UPDATE: Zach Kayser thought he'd have a classic "gotcha" moment at our expense, and claimed that the LAUS (a.k.a Micropolitan Statistical Area) puts Bemidji's unemployment at 8.7 percent for June 2014.
Sadly, no, as the screenshot of the data for June 2014 shows. We'd used the May data in our post below.
We tweeted the screenshot to Mr. Zach, but he still hasn't corrected his post. Perhaps he might consider using this link, then explain just where he came up with that figure of 8.7 percent. (January 2012?)
Update 2: Our friend Max Hailperin points out that Kayser used this data set, but didn't link directly to it, and only vaguely describing what he was describing. Thus we're both right about our datasets, but McFadden--who claims to be drawing his figure from the "latest figures", is simply incorrect about what those numbers are. [end update].
Bemidji, Minnesota, is the proud home of a statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe, his Blue Ox; endorsed Republican United States Senate candidate Mike McFadden seems to be drawing inspiration from that tale with a whopper of his own.
In More McFadden views: From Minnesota’s ‘immoral’ test-scores gap to an economic ‘game-changer’, McFadden told MinnPost political columnist Eric Black (emphasis in original):
Shortly before our interview, it came out that the June unemployment rate for Minnesota was 4.5 percent, the lowest since February of 2007. I asked McFadden whether he was aware of the state’s unemployment rate? Replied McFadden:
Do you know what the unemployment rate is in the Iron Range, Eric? It just came out, too. It’s close to 10 percent. Do you know what it is in Bemidji? It’s close to 11 percent.
Bluestem had been looking at county level unemployment data recently and thought the figure for Bemidji might be a bit high. According to data online at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Beltrami County's unemployment rate was 6 percent in June 2014.
But we can drill down even deeper into the data by visiting the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Viewer, which reports that the unemployment rate for the Bemidji, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area (U) was 5.6 percent in May 2014, the latest figures available.
That's nearly half the rate that McFadden shared, but William B. Laughead might be proud.
An investment banker on leave of absence from Lazard Middle Market, McFadden is predicted to win the Republican primary and face Senator Al Franken in November's general election.
Photo: Bemidji's Paul Bunyan and Babe statues, via Wikipedia.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Email subscribers can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen at gmail dot com as recipient.
Comments