Walker’s Wisconsin still lags nation in job growth

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2015 file photo, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker acknowledges people in the gallery during Governor's State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chambers at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis. Walker has transformed Wisconsin politics, winning three elections in four years and signing laws that weaken unions, crippling a key component of the Democratic Party. But the likely Republican presidential contender has had less success changing Wisconsin’s economy and budget. The state lags in job growth and its budget faces a shortfall. It’s a record that complicates Walker’s path in early primary states as he sells himself as a reformer. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File) FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2015 file photo, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker acknowledges people in the gallery during Governor's State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chambers at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis. Walker has transformed Wisconsin politics, winning three elections in four years and signing laws that weaken unions, crippling a key component of the Democratic Party. But the likely Republican presidential contender has had less success changing Wisconsin’s economy and budget. The state lags in job growth and its budget faces a shortfall. It’s a record that complicates Walker’s path in early primary states as he sells himself as a reformer. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File)

By Associated Press April 3, 2015 1 min read

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Scott Walker’s economic record as Wisconsin governor is a mixed one, and that poses complications as well as opportunity for him in the 2016 Republican presidential race.

On one hand, the jobless rate has dropped from 8.1 percent to 5 percent during his time as governor and businesses have been starting up at a healthy clip.

But Wisconsin has added private sector jobs at a lower rate than the national average since July 2011. Only about 145,000 private sector jobs were created over Walker’s first four years; he’d promised 250,000.

And the state budget faces a shortfall.

It’s a mixed picture and, as the 2016 race heats up, a more complex one than Walker presents to voters as he prepares for a likely candidacy.