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MILWAUKEE -- Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett talked jobs numbers Monday, May 14th on the campaign trail. Both are preparing to face off for the governor's seat in the recall election, coming up on June 5th. Walker says the state's dismal jobs report is neither accurate nor complete. Meanwhile, Barrett says Walker is trying to re-write history ahead of the election.
A recent poll showed the issue of jobs is the top concern for voters in the recall election. In 2010, Walker pledged to create 250,000 new jobs in his first term as governor. So far the state has added 5,900. Walker says those job statistics are inaccurate.
"I think you're going to see the actual numbers for 2011 are brighter than the original estimates came out for," Walker said.
Walker said Wisconsin's job creation numbers for his first year in office will be revised this week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which detailed Wisconsin's employment picture from March of 2011 to March of 2012 showed Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state in the country.
"Those are not the final numbers - those are estimates. This is not a new thing. All the states have to do this. The numbers that will come out is part of the normal process - the difference between estimates and actuals," Walker said.
"I think it's going to be creative writing, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics has no intention of revising its numbers," Barrett said.
FOX6 News checked with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and economist Alex Farach released the following statement Monday: "The March 2012 report has been released, and will not be revised until the next benchmark period. The benchmark period is the annual review that we do, where we set our employment levels to data received from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages."
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says its monthly reports are sometimes revised if numbers from late reporters are delivered.
"I don't doubt for a second that (Walker) and his administration are going to try to cook the books and put themselves in a favorable light because they cannot defend the fact that under his administration, this state has lost more jobs than any other state in this entire nation," Barrett said.
Walker says his reforms are working, and challenged Barrett to detail his plans.
"Today is the 33rd day since the mayor of Milwaukee was first asked what he would do with the budget. He has failed to answer that in the 33 days that have passed. The reason for that is really simple - either he doesn't have a plan, or he has a plan and doesn't want to share it with voters," Walker said.
"We laid out a very extensive plan in 2010. We would use that as our starting point, and do some things very differently from the way he's done it. For example, we would not turn our back on clean wind energy, which led to the cancellation of seven projects in the state that had a value of approximately $1.2 billion. Also, as a result of that, 750 to 900 construction jobs were lost," Barrett said.