Congressman wants Perdue to provide information on labor data

A GOP congressional committee chairman has asked Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue to provide information on how she was able to release state labor statistics last summer before the embargoed date.

Rep. John Kline, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, requested the information from Perdue, the Carolina Journal reported. It also sent a similar letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

“Unemployment data can affect confidence of markets, consumers and employers,” Kline said in a news release. “Federal law provides safeguards to ensure no one uses this information for unfair gain. We must pursue any and all allegations of improper handling of sensitive data. I urge Secretary Solis and Governor Perdue to provide the information I've requested and conduct a thorough review of their policies immediately.”

Kline took the action after the Carolina Journal, a publication of the John Locke Foundation, a Raleigh-based conservative think tank, published an article last month that raised questions whether Perdue was violating confidentiality agreements regarding the sharing of monthly federal employment data. It cited an instance where Perdue mentioned new employment statistics a day before they were released and it also reported on emails in which administration officials sought to cast the employment data in the most favorable light.

The governor's office has denied it did anything inappropriate.

The unemployment data release is likely to get a mention at Wednesday's Revenue Laws Committee meeting at the legislature. Lynn Holmes, the Perdue administration's Employment Security Commission chief, will testify after lawmakers took the unusual step in December to subpoena her after she failed to appear at the committee's previous meeting. The committee wants Holmes to talk about the state's mounting debut to the federal government because of unemployment benefit payments. But Holmes is also a central figure in what Republicans want to dub "Data-Gate."

UPDATE: Christine Mackey, governor's press secretary: "The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives should be focused on protecting middle class Americans and restoring economic security rather than chasing down partisan news stories.  The Governor's office will respond to the request and reiterates that the Division of Employment Services is permitted to share final unemployment estimates with the Governor's office."