US job data manipulated: Jack Welch
Jack Welch, the former chairman of General Electric Co, provoked cries of outrage in Washington on Friday when he suggested that the White House manipulated September job figures for political gains.
White House officials dismissed as ludicrous a tweet Welch sent to his more than 1.3 million followers that gave the impression President Barack Obama's administration may have rigged the data as a way of recovering from a poor showing at Wednesday night's debate with Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger for the White House.
"Unbelievable jobs numbers these Chicago guys will do anything, can't debate so change numbers", Welch said in a posting on Twitter. Obama formerly served as a senator from Illinois.
The tweet was repeated more than 2,000 times, with many mocking posts comparing Welch to New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump, who during his failed bid for the presidency loudly argued that Obama was not born in the United States, and Clint Eastwood, who gave a widely panned speech at the Republican National Convention in August.
Welch, who with his wife, Suzy Welch, writes a column for Reuters, said he is not accusing anyone of anything. But he stood by his tweet.
These numbers just don't go with the economic activity. Welch said. You draw your own conclusions.
Officials in Washington quickly dismissed the idea that the Labor Department report - which showed unemployment falling to a near four-year low of 7.8 percent - could be rigged.
That's a ludicrous comment. No serious person believes that
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