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Initial Walker and Burke Campaign Ads Spar over Unemployment Numbers

Gov. Walker is releasing his first TV ad of the 2014 campaign season, the same week Democrat Mary Burke is running her first political spots.

Both ads reference Wisconsin's unemployment rates over the years.

Burke claims Wisconsin's unemployment rate never exceeded 4.8 percent when she served as state commerce secretary from 2005 to 2007, but is now 6.3 percent under the Walker administration.

Walker's campaign points to the fact that when he took office in 2011, the jobless rate in the state was 7.8 percent but is now down to 6.3 percent.

The unemployment rate began spiking in 2008, when the Great Recession hit the state and country.