Category Archives: Wisconsin

Of Technocrats and Ideologues in Economic Data/Analysis Dissemination

I’ve gotten jaded by getting regular emails alerting me to the fact a new Wisconsin Economic Outlook Forecast or Monthly Economic Update (the latest just out, here). In addition, DoR has substantially expanded its interactive data visualizations here. But after a little thought, I really have to say it’s been a sea change in openness since Governor Walker exited.

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Wisconsin Economic Outlook, Benchmark Revised Wisconsin Employment and GDP

The February Wisconsin Economic Outlook forecast was just released yesterday. So too were January 2023 estimates for Wisconsin employment (incorporating annual benchmark revisions). How does the outlook look, given the data revisions? Pretty good in the short term. Over the next year – reflecting the forecast for the Nation – not as nice, with employment projected to decline modestly.

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The Wisconsin Economic Outlook and the Impact of Recent Policies

Last Thursday, I talked on WPR’s Central Time about the national economy and Wisconsin’s outlook given President Biden’s policies. I noted that the macro outlook had improved substantially since last December, as the economy proved more resilient than expected, and inflation decelerated more than anticipated.  That was true nationally, as well as locally.

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Jobs vs. Employment in the CES and CPS Employment Series

A reader asserts that Senator Johnson, in stating “It’s not like we don’t have enough jobs here in Wisconsin.” means that I should be reporting number of jobs, not number of people employed. However, in the previous post, I was exactly showing manufacturing and nonfarm payroll employment jobs (drawn from the Current Establishment Survey), which refer to the number of jobs, to wit:

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