Rendell Teaches Obama How to Create Phony Jobs

A report released on Friday by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services shows 7,400 jobs have been either created or retained(Capitolwire Subscription) in Pennsylvania using federal stimulus dollars. Jim Creedon, the state’s chief implementation officer for the stimulus funds, calls this estimate “conservative” because it accounts only for the amount of work completed.

Meanwhile, John Lott reports some fishy stories where one employer reported creating 4,231 jobs, although 3,000 of those workers were paid for five weeks or less.

The reports are reminiscent of Ed Rendell’s economic development announcements with inflated job numbers and fabricated information. For example, Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) participants provide little, if any, job creation or capital investment in return for the tax exemptions and investments they receive. In fact, some 75% of reported participants didn’t create any jobs. Yet Rendell, is adamant that KOZ is an “important tool to attract and retain companies and the jobs they provide.”

The White House is using the same fuzzy math with the same pitiful results. Despite all of PA’s “economic development” spending, we continue to lag behind in job growth and state economic rankings. Likewise, the stimulus has done little to improve the national economy- including slowing unemployment rates.