Generally speaking, Wisconsinites don’t like to brag, but it seems like those of us on the western end of the state might have a reason to, at least when it comes to job growth. According to a new study by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, western Wisconsin has had one of the state’s best job growth rates over the past decade-plus. Between 2000 and 2012, the region – which includes Eau Claire, Chippewa, Dunn, and 14 other counties along the state’s western edge – saw 5 percent job growth. According to WisTax, sectors in the region with the best job growth were natural resources and mining (88 percent), education and health services (39.8 percent), and finance (20.5 percent). “The relative stability of manufacturing in the 17-county region compared to other harder-hit parts of the state was also a factor” in the region’s relative economic vitality, WisTax said in a press release. Total job growth here in the west was second only to seven-county region around Madison, the state’s political and educational capital, where employment grew 6.4 percent during that period. By contrast, employment fell in the Milwaukee area (-5.7 percent), northern Wisconsin (-5.6 percent), and central Wisconsin (-1.4 percent), while rising a bit in the Fox Valley (up 1.4 percent). Overall, the number of jobs statewide fell 1.4 percent between 2000 and 2012. (Chalk that up to two recessions and a weak recovery.) For more details on the report and its findings, check out wistax.org.