Hoekstra latest critic of Census data
by Dave Alexander | The Muskegon Chronicle
Wednesday December 10, 2008, 9:23 PM
Call your city the "worst" in the nation when it comes to unemployment and it raises the hackles of many.


Peter HoekstraPublic officials who live here or represent Muskegon remain confused, frustrated and downright defensive about statistics released three days ago by the U.S. Census Bureau that show Muskegon has the worst unemployment in the nation.

U.S. Rep. Peter Hoesktra, R-Holland, was the latest to weigh in on the survey that listed Muskegon's unemployment rate at 22.1 percent among cities larger than 20,000. He calls the information "inaccurate, incomplete" and "a waste of time and money."

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Hoestra and local officials say the high jobless rate given for the time period of 2005-07 flies in the face of statistics furnished monthly to the U.S. Labor Department -- figures show Muskegon's unemployment rate during that same period averaging 9.1 percent.

The head of the regional planning agency in charge of census numbers in Muskegon also challenged the accuracy of the statistics.

"There is something wrong. Based on my knowledge of the region, Muskegon's unemployment rate for those three years was not 22.1 percent," said Sandeep Dey, executive director of the West Mchigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission and a provider of local statistical data to the government for 33 years.

"(I am) very skptical of the accuracy of the data and findings," Dey said.

Neither Hoesktra nor Dey could point specifically to how the survey, which questioned 3 million residents nationwide, was flawed. Called the American Community Survey, it attempts to provide annual estimated updates of the historic 10-year census counts.

Dey said he suspects the Census' survey instrument and the method of collection is not the problem but lies somewhere in the "administration" of the survey results for the city of Muskegon.

The Census ranking comes after a decade or more of careful rehabilitation of the Muskegon public image based on greatly improved employment numbers over those years.

"Reporting such a high unemployment rate based upon incomplete information sends the wrong message," Hoekstra said in a prepared statement. "It creates another barrier to economic growth and job creation when the government issues such conflicting data. It is confusing and a waste of time and money."

The Census Bureau in 2004 addressed the different numbers that can be arrived from the various federal government surveys that provide employment information.

"Estimates of employment and unemployment from a particular program may differ from those of other programs because of variations in definitions, coverage, methods of collection, reference periods and estimations of procedures," according to the Census Bureau. "These variations, in turn, arise from differences in the programs' purposes. This multiplicity of sources makes it important to understand when it is appropriate to use the data from each source."

Local critics of the most recent Census survey results say AP never should have used the numbers it did when trying to reflect unemployment. However, the Census "guidance" on the American Community Survey tends to support the Associated Press' analysis of the recently released data.

"The (ACS) characterizes small geographic areas , for comparisons among such areas and between such areas and larger ones," the Census Bureau reports. In other words, the data compares apples to apples and oranges to oranges -- the method AP used in classifying Muskegon's unemployment as the "worst."

But Hoekstra spokesman Dave Yonkman said he believes the more favorable statistics furnished montly to the Labor Department are more accurate because, while fewer subjects are interviewed, more questions are being asked directly to households. The Census survey asked only a few questions through a mailed survey.

"With our attempts at economic development, the last thing we need is an unfair characterization of our city," said Hoekstra spokesman Dave Yonkman said. "It is not to say Muskegon doesn't have its challenges, but we don't think the Census numbers reflect what is happening."

Dey echoed that skepticism.

"As good as the Census Bureau is in its mission, it is known to make mistakes," he said.

Back in Muskegon, local public officials continued to rail against the AP story that created a negative buzz throughout the region.

Muskegon City Commissioner Steve Wisneski, at the close of Tuesday's commission meeting, called the AP story "shoddy journalism" based on misleading statistics.

"To report this was a disservice to the community," Wisineski said. "Muskegon has enough challenges, but also enough good things going on, that we don't need untruths like this."

"I have no trouble reporting the facts," said the commissioner, who was a human resource manager for 15 years before joining Creative Benefit Systems Inc. as a principal. "But to report something this exaggerated, this far out of context, is just wrong."