1/20/12 – Wisconsin lost more private sector jobs last month while the nation as a whole made gains. Preliminary federal figures released today show that Wisconsin lost 39-hundred private sector jobs in December while the nation added 212-thousand positions. Both numbers reflect seasonal factors, and they’re open to revisions when more complete surveys are finished. It was the sixth straight month that Wisconsin recorded job losses, after making gains in the first six months of last year. Final figures from November showed that Wisconsin lost 14-hundred fewer private sector jobs than originally reported – but the final loss was still about 10-thousand for the month. Most of the lost jobs in December were in the leisure-and-hospitality areas and other service industries. Wisconsin’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a point to seven-point-one percent. That’s the same drop as the national rate had in December. The U-S rate is now eight-and-a-half percent. Officials said Wisconsin’s decline was due to the fact that the total number of people working grew by 69-hundred from November to December – and by 21-thousand compared to a year ago.