Unemployment rate increases in Wisconsin

MADISON (AP) -- Wisconsin's unemployment rate increased to 7.5 percent in July, while 4,300 new private sector jobs were added.

The latest figures reported Thursday by the state Department of Workforce Development are based on a survey of just 3.5 percent of Wisconsin businesses.

The numbers are subject to significant revision month to month. Gov. Scott Walker's administration has downplayed the significance of the numbers in favor of quarterly data based on a census of nearly all of the state's businesses.

The latest jobs numbers show that about 19,000 jobs have been created since Walker took office in 2011. He promised to create 250,000 jobs by 2015.

The state's August unemployment rate of 7.5 percent was up from 7.3 percent the month before, but below the national average of 8.1 percent.