Did Governor Hoeven Really Create 25,000 New Jobs?
Governor John Hoeven isn’t shy about about the number of new jobs in North Dakota, nor is he shy about attributing the creation of those jobs to himself and the tens of millions of dollars he’s spent on his “Centers of Excellence” and other initiatives. The Governor is saying that some 25,000 new jobs have been created in the state since 2002, and that his policies deserve the credit for that. But recently the Bismarck Tribune asked in editorial for proof that the tax dollars the Governor has been spending are, in fact, creating the jobs he’s claiming.
That is an excellent question, because it begs a number of other questions as well. Such as: What criteria must be met before a new job can be attributed to the Governor’s spending? And has the benefit of those new jobs - those that actually can be attributed to the Governor’s spending of our tax dollars - been enough for the citizens of North Dakota to justify that spending in the first place?
And beyond those questions, the job numbers the Governor is claiming don’t quite pass the smell test for a couple of reasons.
For one, North Dakota’s population growth has been anemic, so where have the 25,000 new people to fill these jobs supposedly created since 2002 come from? According to the US Census Bureau the state actually lost some 7,000 citizens from 2000 to 2005 and is only projected to add about 1,200 citizens between now and 2010.
For another, according to North Dakota Job Service the number of people employed in the state has only increased from 333,605 in 2002 to 346,359 in 2006. That’s a difference of only 12,754, or roughly half of what the Governor is claiming. Also per North Dakota Job Service, the number of people unemployed in the state has fallen by only 630 people.
So how is the Governor coming up with that “25,000 new jobs” number? Is he only counting jobs added to our economy during his time in office and not subtracting jobs lost (perhaps because of high taxes perpetuated by his spend-happy administration)? And of those 12,754 jobs the Job Service numbers show, how many of them can actually be attributed to the Governor’s policies and not, say, the resurgent oil industry for instance? Something the Governor isn’t really all that responsible for?
I’m not a statistician, so perhaps there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why the Governor’s numbers aren’t matching mine. But it would be nice to hear the Governor or one of his representatives offer that explanation, and do so before one more tax dollar is spent on his economic development schemes.
Neiman
HG
realitybasedbob
Proof
ManofFireandLight
robert108
Zsa Zsa
Bat One
