Was Labor Dept. Warned In 2011 Unemployment Numbers Were Bogus?

Three months ago the NY Post reported evidence the pre-election unemployment numbers may have been rigged to help Obama win reelection. In a follow up story the Post is reporting a whistle-blower claims to have warned the Labor department of unemployment manipulation as far back as November 2011.

When the jobs report came out the first week of October 2012 reporting a drop from 8.1% to 7.8%, many people including former GE chief Jack Welch believed the numbers were manipulated. The Post report of November 2013 contended the surprising .3% drop was based on manipulated  numbers, and people within the Census Bureau, which does the unemployment survey,  were well aware of the manipulation:

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.

But according to the original report:

The Census employee caught faking the results is Julius Buckmon, according to confidential Census documents obtained by The Post. Buckmon told me in an interview this past weekend that he was told to make up information by higher-ups at Census.

Now, John Crudele of the NY Post who broke the story three months ago is reporting that early as November 2011, a whistle blower tried to warn the Labor Department that there was something funky with the unemployment figures but his warning was either ignored or missed by the department higher ups.

Up until now, the focus has mainly been on the Census Bureau, which, besides the unemployment rate, conducts surveys for a lot of government agencies and private concerns.

The Labor Department and its Bureau of Labor Statistics division have been largely left out of this controversy and viewed simply as the victims of the Census Bureau’s deceit.

My next few paragraphs may change that.

In late August 2011, a manila envelope containing evidence of falsified data was sent to Keith Hall, who was then in charge of the BLS. “The Philadelphia Regional office [of Census] … engaged in a cover-up after it was reported that members of its staff falsified data in an effort to meet goals,” said the anonymous letter, a copy of which I have in front of me.

The letter identified the two supervisors who arranged the cover-up.

“In an effort to satisfy the sponsor [the BLS] … the numbers were literally made up,” said the tipster.

Crudele continues to investigate, he is waiting for the Commerce Department to hand over the documents he requested via a Freedom of Information Act request.  Along with his investigation the House Oversight committee is looking into the scandal as well as the Commerce Dept. inspector general. Additionally according to Crudele, the US Attorney's office in Philadelphia is rumored to be looking into the matter.