Joblessness rate rigged, say some Romney fans

[Sean Roberts]

September’s jobs report confirmed 114,000 jobs had been added to the economy, and that the joblessness rate had fallen below 8 percent. Some conservatives, however, are saying those numbers are rigged.

Might have made reports up

Jack Welch, the previous CEO of General Electric, accused the administration of "cooking the books" in a Tweet Friday morning:

"Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can't debate so change numbers."

In addition to the upbeat jobs report, Welch was also referring to the presidential controversy on Oct. 3. It is generally felt among conservatives that candidate Mitt Romney trounced an uncharacteristically subdued Obama.

Obama’s roots can be found in Chicago, which is where his campaign is occurring also.

The Wall Street Journal spoke with 76 year old Welch after other Tweets asked him to explain the comments. He said he was not kidding over it.

He successfully ran General Electric for 20 years, and is well-known in the business neighborhood. His Tweet was re-sent 2,361 times by noon, Eastern Standard Time, the day the jobs report was launched.

Peter Thies, of the headhunting firm Korn/Ferry International, said:

“His words ring louder than many others and that’s just the fact of life for a CEO, especially a well-known corporate icon type CEO that he has been.”

In January, Welch said to NBC:

“In my lifetime, Mitt Romney is the most qualified leader I’ve ever seen run for the presidency of the United States.”

A lot of suspicious people

Welch earned the title “Neutron Jack” in the 1980s when he increased earnings by cutting over 100,000 jobs. He was not the only one who imagined the jobs report was suspicious. According to talk show host Laura Ingraham’s Twitter account:

“Jobs #s from Labor Secretary Hilda Solis are total pro-Obama propaganda-labor force participation rate at 30-yr low. Abysmal!”

There were many others who were worried about the legitimacy of the reports, including columnist conn Carroll and the group Americans for Limited Government.

Arguments denied

The White House has, of course, denied the allegations. Labor Secretary Solis appeared on CNN Friday to defend the report.

She pointed out:

“This is a methodology that's been used for decades. And it is insulting when you hear people just cavalierly say that somehow we're manipulating numbers."

Alan Grueger is the White House Council of Economic Advisers chairman who revealed:

“No serious person would question the integrity of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These numbers are put together by career employees. They use the same process every month. So I think comments like that are irresponsible.”

Economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisers said that is not uncommon to see large monthly shifts in joblessness numbers.

“The unemployment rate will probably go back to 7.9 percent or maybe 8 percent next month.”

Bureau of Labor Statistics accusations

The allusion to a conspiracy in the Bureau of Labor Statistics harkens back to Richard Nixon's administration, when was recorded accusing the BLS of being run by a Jewish cabal.

The GOP was hoping that Mitt Romney could win the election after the great performance in the controversy on Wed, but the BLS report changes it in the President’s favor.

Sources

Newsday

Christian Science Monitor

CNN