Remember that crazy Jack Welch controversy about supposed manipulation of U.S. employment data ahead of the 2012 Presidential election? A story appearing at the New York Post this morning says that maybe 'Neutron Jack' wasn't as crazy as he looked:
Just two years before the presidential election, the Census Bureau had caught an employee fabricating data that went into the unemployment report, which is one of the most closely watched measures of the economy.
And a knowledgeable source says the deception went beyond that one employee — that it escalated at the time President Obama was seeking reelection in 2012 and continues today.
“He’s not the only one,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous for now but is willing to talk with the Labor Department and Congress if asked.
The Post details explosive allegations of 'faking' household interviews, and suggests that Census Bureau employees would fill out interviews that never happened as if they did, in fact, take place:
Labor requires Census to achieve a 90 percent success rate on its interviews — meaning it needed to reach 9 out of 10 households targeted and report back on their jobs status.
Census currently has six regions from which surveys are conducted. The New York and Philadelphia regions, I’m told, had been coming up short of the 90 percent.
Philadelphia filled the gap with fake interviews.
