A recent report from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy shows Wisconsin lost 2,200 jobs between February and March.
John Dipko, director of communications for the Department of Workforce Development, said this sort of loss during the winter is common, though overall Wisconsin has gained jobs.
""Without seasonal adjustment, the state posted a gain of 4,900 total jobs in March from February, with 11 of 12 [metropolitan statistical areas] posting job gains,"" he said.
Since the start of the nation-wide recession in December 2007, Wisconsin has lost a total of 173,800 jobs. Although some improvements in job creation have been made in the 2009-'10 year, the report said the gains are neither steady nor strong.
Dipko said this slow improvement is to be expected.
""We remain optimistic that Wisconsin's economy will continue to show improvement, opening up greater employment opportunities for many hardworking families who have been out of work through no fault of their own,"" he said.
The report shows Wisconsin gained 2,500 jobs in the manufacturing sector and 500 jobs in the construction sector in March. Overall, Wisconsin has lost nearly 73,000 manufacturing jobs and almost 26,000 construction jobs since December 2007.
""The construction sector was hit heavily and early by the burst of the housing bubble,"" Dipko said. ""More recently, commercial real estate has been impacted by many of the issues that affected the residential market: overbuilding, lower demand, over-extended credit and higher credit standards for loans. Due to the dramatic rise and fall of the residential and commercial sectors, construction jobs may increase at a slower rate than other industries during the recovery.""
In an April report from the DWD, Wisconsin's unemployment rate was listed at 9.4 percent.
