Is Corzine Cooking the Jobs-Creation Numbers in New Jersey as a Campaign Strategy?

It's not a smoking-gun situation or very close to that. But the Garden State has a curious pattern of overstating private sector job growth, and then modifying those figures down -- way down -- a few months later.

I'm imagining the initial bogus reports are trumpeted and the "Whoopsie!" corrections aren't getting so much play.

Even absent deliberate connivance here, it seems that New Jerseyans have been getting a consistent dose of relatively good jobs creation numbers recently, and I doubt every much they have been adequately informed that the last four readings have been revised downwards -- most recently from 13,000 down to 5600, and in a previous month by 4300. Significant revisions, especially given that Corzine is basing his re-election campaign on his purported ability to mint new jobs. From the Star Ledger:

In the midst of a tough re-election campaign focusing on his stewardship of the economy, Gov. Jon Corzine's office recently instructed his cabinet officers to orchestrate events showcasing job creation.

posted by Ace at 11:05 AM

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