'Fake News' Accusation From Kasich Spurs New Job Numbers

After Gov. John Kasich disputed Ohio job-creation numbers reported by The Dispatch last week, a state official said Monday that the data originally provided to the newspaper by the Kasich administration were incorrect.

Kasich criticized the Dispatch report as “fake news,” and a few hours later on Monday, the state provided revised job-creation numbers that weren’t as low as the first set of numbers it provided.

Using a revised method to come up with jobs data, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services now says Ohio created 32,200 jobs in 2017, not the 12,500 The Dispatch reported on Saturday using the department’s own figures.

Though better, the numbers still are the weakest in Ohio since 2009, when the state was hemorrhaging jobs because of the recession.