Wisconsin's economic health and competitive position may be lagging in comparison to surrounding states and the rest of the nation, according to a report released Monday.
Dale Knapp, research director at the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, the group responsible for compiling the study for Competitive Wisconsin, Inc., said report findings indicated an overall decline in Wisconsin's annual household income.
It's surprising because if you look back historically, Wisconsin's household income has typically been 8 to 10 percent above the national average. Over the last four or five years, our household income hasn't grown, whereas the national average has,\ Knapp said. ""We've gone from traditionally well above the national average to somewhere near it. Typically, incomes move somewhat together, so the fact that we're somewhat stagnant is somewhat alarming.""
CWI chair Mark Cullen echoed much of Knapp's concerns and said in a statement the downward spiral is something the state cannot afford to take lightly.
""Household income should be thought of as the canary in the mineshaft; its decline relative to the U.S. cannot be ignored,"" Cullen said.
Knapp said the reasons behind the drop in household income remain unclear.
""When you look at how many people are working, we've had more dual-income households, and that's changing,"" Knapp said. ""A second thing could be related to that. You could have more households where the second wage-earner has gone from full-time to part-time status. A third possibility could be wage trends. We were affected a little more than some other states in terms of the latest economic slowdown. Those are factors that could be contributing, but we haven't figured out exactly why that is.""
The report also found that while Wisconsin continues to receive high marks in quality of life, the state continues to struggle in keeping its domestic jobs.
Dan Leistikow, spokesperson for Gov. Jim Doyle, said the governor has always placed strong emphasis on job creation and economic growth.
""He's launched a bold agenda called Grow Wisconsin that has helped create more than 140,000 new jobs in Wisconsin since the day he took office,"" Leistikow said.
He added Doyle's role in leading some of Wisconsin's most gifted scientists to the BIO 2006 conference was a great way to promote the state's growing biotechnology industry.
""He has set a goal for Wisconsin to capture 10 percent of the stem cell market, which could mean billions of dollars for our economy,"" Leistikow said. ""He sees that as a big part of our economic future.""
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