Census shows Wisconsin lost 6,700 businesses 2007-2010

MILWAUKEE (AP) — New U.S. Census Bureau data shows Wisconsin lost 6,700 companies from 2007 to 2010.

The loss amounts to about 163,000 jobs. The biggest declines during the recession years came in construction, which was down about 24 percent, and manufacturing, down nearly 16 percent.

While most industries in Wisconsin lost companies and employees, some managed to grow, including health care and the social assistance sectors.

Economist Brian Jacobsen tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel most of the trends from that four-year period didn’t necessarily carry into 2011 and 2012. Jacobsen says there have been gains in manufacturing and the construction industry stabilized in 2011.