The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, through an open records request, has called into question the Governor’s integrity in releasing inaccurate job figures last summer.
[In] July Walker traveled to Milwaukee to announce that the month before the state had gained a net total of 9,500 jobs, a big chunk of the net total of 18,000 new jobs nationwide for that month. It was announced at the time as the biggest monthly increase in jobs since September 2003.
But three days before the announcement, Walker’s office received a report from the state labor department that raised serious concerns about the numbers. The PowerPoint presentation was released to the Journal Sentinel under the state’s open records law.
“Results, while (federal Bureau of Labor Statistics) approved, are very questionable,” reads the first line of the report.
Tom Krolik, an economist with the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, D.C., said the monthly statewide jobs numbers in Wisconsin are subject to a margin of error of plus or minus 9,500 jobs – about the same amount as the net increase in total public and private jobs that was reported for June.
The positive figure was within the margin of error and the Team Walker knew it and used the numbers anyway. They were advised against it but spun the numbers. The Walker administration’s use of these bogus figures represents yet another in a long line of ethically questionable choices made by this crumbling administration. What will the next open records request reveal? I shudder to contemplate.
Wisconsin cannot afford any more Walker lies.
Recent Comments