Democracy Has Prevailed.

March 11, 2014

Governor Corbett Gets Fact-Checked.

A week ago, Factcheck,org took a look at an ad put out by the Corbett's campaign.  What they found ain't so pretty:
A new radio ad from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett boasts that he “created 150,000 new private sector jobs,” a feat called “remarkable” in a Web ad on his campaign website. Not really. Pennsylvania ranks 46th out of 50 states in the rate of private sector job growth during the three years Corbett has been in office. In fact, the growth rate is less than half the national average.
To any discerning listener, the phrase "created X number of new private sector jobs" should be the first clue that there's some form of informational manipulation going on.  It's the addition of the adjective "private" modifying the "sector jobs" part.  Anyone listening should immediately ask, "what about public sector jobs?"  What about the total jobs picture?

And factcheck.org does:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Pennsylvania has added a net 138,300 private sector jobs between January 2011, when Corbett took office, and December 2013, the latest figures available. The December figures are projected, and Corbett’s office said it looked at the numbers from January 2011 to November 2013, which show a net gain of 151,100 private sector jobs.

Corbett’s comments focus on private sector job growth. During his time in office, the number of government jobs has declined by a net 42,000 (most from local government jobs). When looking at all jobs, including government jobs, Pennsylvania has gained 96,300 total jobs under Corbett – a 1.7 percent job growth over three years, ranking the state 46th in total job growth among the states.
46th?  That's not too good, is it?

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