(Given the 24,000 job loss correction in the numbers this month. The question remains, has the state been cooking the books. - promoted by Rob "EaBo Clipper" Eno)
I have been a constant critic of the so called "jobs numbers" coming out of the Bureau of Labor statistics. The numbers have not jived with what my experience on the ground has stated. I have had long threads on twitter with John Walsh and Doug Rubin about the job's numbers and how they don't seem real. Every time that happens I am accused of John Walsh and Doug Rubin of "wishing for the worst" so that Charlie Baker could win.
It seems as though my skepticism has been vindicated. Today Auditor Joe Denucci said that the Massachusetts Technology Development Board is overstating job numbers. They are purposely fudging the books to make it seem like more jobs are being created than actually are in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts State Auditor Joe DeNucci is taking on the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) over job creation, saying the quasi-public agency that aids startup technology firms overstated the number of jobs it has helped to create.
DeNucci said in a press release that the MTDC's job creation numbers are supposed to reflect jobs in Massachusetts, but that the agency's numbers actually include both Massachusetts and out-of-state jobs. DeNucci, who has announced his retirement, said the MTDC compiled its figures from questionnaires sent to companies that received investment assistance from MTDC. According to DeNucci, the 18 companies tracked by MTDC in 2008 reported that 575 jobs were created, but he said 124 of those were out-of-state.
Where there is smoke there is usually fire. What other agencies have over-reported job growth? Is it a systematic policy of the Patrick Administration?
In January of this year Deval Patrick, upon Suzanne Bump's resignation, appointed a new Secretary of Labor, Joanne F. Goldstein. We already know that one of Secretary Goldstein's first actions was to hire the person at the center of an ethics violation in Ohio as her unemployment compensation director. This fact calls into question her judgement in my eyes.
January is also the time of year that the Massachusetts job's numbers deviated from their previous trend and started to look extremely good. The question that should be asked by the auditor and the press is this, "is there a concerted effort under the direction of Joanne Goldstein to inflate the jobs numbers reported to the bureau of labor statistics from Massachusetts?" |
