Democrats ask Governor to publicly correct jobs record
Department of Workforce Development misreported numbers
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Democrats today called on Gov. Mitch Daniels to publicly correct a reporting error by the Department of Workforce Development that led to the repeated dissemination of inaccurate jobs numbers by the administration.
On March 17, DWD Commissioner Ron Stiver claimed in a news release that Indiana added 19,500 jobs between February 2005 and February 2006. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which recently revised Indiana’s data, DWD officials originally misreported and later corrected the state’s estimate. Indiana actually added almost 7,000 fewer jobs over the past year than it originally had reported.
An April 7 e-mail from a BLS economist to the Indiana Democratic Party explains that “Indiana changed their estimate because they discovered a reporting error.â€
Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker pointed out that the Daniels administration claims economic development and job creation are among its top priorities.
“There’s no shame in admitting you made a mistake and apologizing to the public for it,†Parker said. “But this is the most important issue on most Hoosiers’ minds, and they deserve to know the true facts about job growth in Indiana.â€
Parker noted that between February 2004 and February 2005, Indiana led the Midwest in job growth, adding 44,000 jobs. Now, he said, the state is languishing near the bottom of the rankings – 45th in the nation for job gain, according to BLS statistics.
“There’s no way you can twist these numbers,†Parker said. “While the national economy is recovering, Indiana is dragging its heels, and hard-working Hoosiers are suffering. Meanwhile, Mitch Daniels is shipping millions of taxpayer dollars out of Indiana.â€
In his 16 months as Governor, Daniels has sent almost $1 billion taxpayer dollars to out-of-state companies, and his administration has said that a $1 billion social services contract will soon be awarded to a non-Indiana vendor. When he took office, Daniels changed the definition of an Indiana company to make his outsourcing efforts look more inclusive.
For more information: Jennifer Wagner, 317-231-7125 or 317-752-6497
Paid for and authorized by the Indiana Democratic Party, Daniel J. Parker, Chair. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.