According to the latest report by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), the state has lost more than 137,000 jobs in the recession, and nearly half of those lost jobs – 66,100 – were manufacturing jobs.
The report also indicated that manufacturing in Wisconsin is down 13 percent from pre-recession levels and down 25 percent since 2000.
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has doubled to 9 percent since its pre-recession level and its median wage is now $15.48, only 32 cents above what it was in 1979 and below the current national rate of $15.74.
"This is a brutal downturn," Joel Rogers, director said. "We can use it to get more focused on the high-road development that will save us. We need a laser focus on adding value through product and process innovation in major sectors, reducing waste in everything – but especially energy – and capturing locally the benefit of doing both. There’s no point in spending a dime on development of any other kind."
The report is available at www.cows.org. COWS is a nonprofit, nonpartisan "think-and-do tank" dedicated to improving economic performance and living standards in the state of Wisconsin and nationally. COWS is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
