MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) - Wisconsin’s monthly jobs report for April won’t come out until Thursday – and already, they’re a big bone of contention in the governor’s recall race.

Republican Scott Walker’s administration has said the monthly job numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are flawed because the formula for revisions is artificially low.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his people will highlight more detailed data – actual job counts that the state gets directly from 160,000 employers. Walker said Monday they’ll show an improvement over what the federal government reported for Wisconsin in 2011.

But Democrat Tom Barrett, who’s running in the Walker recall election 3 weeks from Tuesday, says Walker cannot defend his job record using the data that every state relies on. So, “They are going to write their own report, and he hopes that the media and the state will believe his numbers.”

Last month, Washington said the Badger State lost almost 24,000 jobs – both public and private – in the year ending in March. It was the highest job loss in the nation, and Democrats say it’s proof that Walker’s economic policies are not working.

But Walker’s people say the federal job data is not in-sync with other indicators which show rising employment and an improved economy in Wisconsin.