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IS IT TRUE: August 26, 2011

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The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE: August 26, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the townhall debate at Harrison High School yesterday was quite valuable to tell us what our young people are interested in seeing from government?…that their questions were probably not too different from what their parents and grandparents are concerned about?…that the topics of concern among young people are JOBS, PUBLIC SAFETY, METH, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT, and of course CONSOLIDATION and ROBERTS STADIUM?…that the audience was respectful of the debate and the candidates were too?…that this is a bunch of kids that could make a difference in Evansville’s future if they have a reason to make a life here?

IS IT TRUE that during discussions about the economy that the unemployment rate was brought up by Democratic candidate for Mayor of Evansville Rick Davis?…that he quoted the unemployment rate at 7.3% which as official government statistics go may really be the “official” number right now?…that the “official” number does not count people who are underemployed?…that an underemployed person may be a banker with an MBA who was laid off from a job that paid about $100,000 per year but is now selling hot dogs at Ellis Park and earning roughly the minimum wage?…that such a person is simply considered to be “employed”?…that the “official” unemployment rate does not include people working part time who really want a full time job?

IS IT TRUE that the Gallup organization that tracks these statistics nationwide reported in July 2011 that the underemployment rate is still at a staggering 18.0%?…that neither of these numbers includes people who have used all of their unemployment benefits and are not eligible for an extension?…that neither of these reporting mechanisms includes people who have basically given up the search for a job?…that these figures do not include people who by their own choice do odd jobs for cash?…that in times like these that the “official” unemployment number has little meaning?…that when all of the officially unemployed people use all of their benefits that the “official” rate will drop to zero and thousands of smiling politicians will take credit for solving this problem while 20% of the population still has no job?…that some statistics are designed to lie while telling the truth?…that SNEGAL is alive and well in governments all over America?

IS IT TRUE that Rick Davis also threw out a number for people who are unemployed of 13,700 people in the Evansville metro area?…that the Courier and Press jumped on Davis and called him out for being inaccurate because this assertion does not conform to the official Indiana Department of Workforce Development numbers?…that we wonder if the Courier and Press reporter is fully aware that the “official” Metropolitan Statistical Area of Evansville, Indiana includes several counties in Kentucky?…that we are quite sure that the Indiana Workforce Development office does not tabulate any of its data from Kentucky?…that it is highly probable that candidate Davis had his numbers correct and that the Courier and Press needs a lesson in exactly what the Evansville MSA is?…that it is every reporters dream to catch a politician in a mistake but that this mistake was not made by Mr. Davis it was made by the Courier and Press?

IS IT TRUE that Mr. Davis and Mr. Winnecke will probably make some mistakes and will be justifiably called out for them?…that there may have even been a mistake or two yesterday?…that what was painted as a mistake yesterday really was not one?…that we in the media need to keep it real when we choose to delve into statistics and geography?

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9 COMMENTS

  1. Inside Indiana Business
    20 June, 2011

    * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Return To Pre-Recession Job Levels

    Other Indiana metros:

    Indianapolis-Carmel, IN 2007 Q4 – Return 2013 Q2

    Fort Wayne, IN 2007 Q1 – Return 2015 Q2

    Evansville, IN-KY 2005 Q4 – Return 2013 Q1

    Bloomington Peak in 2008 Q2 – Return: 2014 Q1

    Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI (includes Gary) 2008 Q1 – Return 2014 Q3

    Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 2008 Q1 – Return 2014 Q4

    Columbus 2008 Q2 – Return 2017 Q2

    Lafayette, IN 2008 Q4 – Return 2013 Q3

  2. Isn’t the Evansville Metropolitan Statistical Area comprised only of Gibson County (Indiana), Posey County (Indiana), Vanderburgh County (Indiana), Warrick County (Indiana), Henderson County (Kentucky), and
    Webster County (Kentucky )?

    Which other Kentucky counties are in the Evansville MSA? The article above says “several Kentucky counties,” meaning more than two or three.

    • Thanks and no problem. The MSA population is 358,000 that is exactly double the 179,000 of Vanderburgh County. If one extrapolates or even looks up the unemployed people in the MSA it should statistically be about double what Vanderburgh County’s is at any given time. The point we were making is that Rick did say MSA when he spoke of the 13,700 number and the CP compared that to a number from WorkOne that is certainly only a local number. The regional economy is very similar. There are plenty of valid questions to ask about both jobs plans without tarring and feathering either candidate for mixing MSA and County in the same paragraph. Lets save the tar and feathers for a time that they are really needed, and they will be needed at some point in the next couple of months.

      • My point was regardless of how free and loose a politician is with facts and figures when rushing out a position paper, the reader deserves true facts about which and how many counties comprise the Evansville MSA. I know it’s confusing because Google provides conflicting data, and the Census Bureau apparently has not yet updated to 2010 data yet.

        • Yes and I have read an announcement that McLean is going into the Evansville MSA and it was after 2008. It may have been in 2010 effective sometime in the future. I have never understood how Union Co. is not in the Evansville MSA if Webster is. The same goes for the counties in Illinois just across the Wabash.

          • I believe McLean County is in the Owensboro MSA with Davies and Hancock. I can’t answer the whys and wherefors of federal bureaucratic rationale, but I think a county has to have a minimum population and meet other data benchmarks to be in any MSA, and there are many counties on the fringe of MSAs without incorporation into one or another MSA.

            • McLean is listed in Owensboro’s on all of the 2008 data. Union is listed no where but it has more people than McLean. Union is about 15,000 and McClean is closer to 10,000.

            • There is another federal designation called “the area of economic influence” that comprises 28 counties in three states and nearly 700,000 people. That is the area that the GAGE tech transfer agreement covers. I really hope that they start doing something with that.

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