Bank Warns Walker Of Incorrect Stats

Sep 29, 2013 9:26 AM

Jason Williams

Officials with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia have accused Governor Scott Walker and other state groups of misusing a monthly index from its top economists.

According to the bank, Governor Walker claimed in recent speeches that the state’s economy was second in the nation for economic improvement. That claim led to Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce releasing an advertisement, thanking the governor for putting the state on the road to recovery.

A Senior Economist with the bank says the “Coincident Indexes” are being misread and have never been part of its calculated index and ranking. According to officials from the bank, the index – comprised of different economic statistics including housing, unemployment claims and wages – is ultimately used to gauge individual states’ improvement over the previous month. Not to compare states growth versus others.