As the campaign for Iowa governor continues to focus on job creation, the state’s job losses continue to pile up.

Principal Financial Group Inc.’s decision to get out of the medical insurance business may make perfect business sense, but it’s another body blow to Greater Des Moines that might cost the area 650 jobs. Just three months ago, another Central Iowa keystone, Wells Fargo Financial, announced that it would cut about 1,000 jobs here by next summer.

There’s not much government can do about such decisions. Wells Fargo & Co. said it was making the move because its merger with Wachovia Corp. created duplication of services – and because of a move away from subprime lending. Principal said it wants to focus on retirement services, institutional asset management and international operations, all areas with greater potential than medical insurance.

One might wonder whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – President Obama’s health-care reform law – played a part in Principal’s decision. If so, it could be argued that the best thing government can do about employment is to do nothing.

We doubt, however, that our next governor will ever be able to brag about job growth due to government inattention.

So what can the state do to first make up for recent losses and then increase employment? The governor’s race is practically over; it seems certain that Terry Branstad will shoulder the burden of living up to his campaign promise about generating 200,000 new jobs.

The only way to do that is to attract more employers, and it’s likely that Branstad will see lower business taxes as a prime attraction.

But these recent and drastic job losses have nothing to do with taxation. They have to do with the ever-changing business landscape.

That’s something no governor can control. Not unless taxpayers want to subsidize companies not to cut jobs, the way they pay farmers not to grow crops.