Gov. Ernie Fletcher has made the claim that he is creating new jobs:
From Ernie Fletcher’s Mid-Term Report:
Growing Jobs in Kentucky
• More than 60,000 new jobs created since January 2004.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• More than $4 billion in new and expanded manufacturing investment.
• Nearly 26,000 new jobs in new and expanded manufacturing.
• More Kentuckians employed during 2005 than any other time in Kentucky’s history.
Let’s take Ernie’s numbers at face value, since he is quoting the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and agree that 60,000 new jobs were created.
But let’s also take a look at some of the other numbers from the BLS. The numbers below are from a BLS report that looks at, “States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes from December 2004 to December 2005, seasonally adjusted”
Unemployment Statistics for Kentucky:
Month - October 2005
Number of Unemployed - 123978
Percentage of the workforce - 6.1%
Month - November 2005
Number of Unemployed - 124529
Percentage of the workforce - 6.2%
Month - December 2005
Number of Unemployed - 127174
Percentage of the workforce - 6.3%
Let’s also look at this report on employment changes and guess which state is not on the list.
States with positive statistically significant employment changes from December 2004 to December 2005, seasonally adjusted, are listed below.
Arizona
California
Colorado
District of Columbia
Florida
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Iowa
Kansas
Maryland
Minnesota
Nebraska
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Bottom line:
The economic policies of the Fletcher administration are not creating jobs.
Ernie’s attack on organized labor with his Right to Work (for less) legislation and the elimination of the prevailing wage law is more a last desperate gasp of a failed politician trying to mobilized his conservative base than it is good economic policy.
The Fletcher administration is not about creating jobs, it’s about keeping power at any cost.
