Oberstar: MN stands to gain 66,000 jobs from stimulus bill (or is it 60,200?)

DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar says the state stands to gain 66,000 jobs from the stimulus bill. His office issued a news release with job projections by Congressional District. Here's the info:

Minnesota 66,000

Congressional District 1 Minnesota 7,100

Congressional District 2 Minnesota 8,400

Congressional District 3 Minnesota 7,600

Congressional District 4 Minnesota 7,000

Congressional District 5 Minnesota 7,200

Congressional District 6 Minnesota 8,700

Congressional District 7 Minnesota 6,800

Congressional District 8 Minnesota 7,400

UPDATED NOTE: I just added up the job projections by congressional district and got 60,200 jobs. Trying to confirm why there's a difference...

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It's interesting that the 2nd, 3rd and 6th Districts stand to gain the most amount of jobs. GOP Rep. John Kline (2nd), GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen (3rd) and GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann (6th) voted against the bill. Minnesota's 7th District (DFL Rep. Collin Peterson) stands to gain the fewest amount of jobs in the state. Peterson also voted against the bill.

As MPR noted earlier this week, the promise of job creation doesn't always pan out.

Update: Here's an explanation from Oberstar's office:

On Thursday, February 12, 2009 our office distributed state by state estimates of jobs created or saved by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that were prepared by the White House. On the Minnesota entry the estimated number of jobs saved in the eight congressional districts totaled 60,200, while the statewide total reported in the same document was 66,000.

This morning the White House explained the discrepancy in these figures. The 66,000 figure was a statewide estimate that was arrived at using a different set of figures than were used to develop the estimates for each congressional district. Because these calculations were done separately, using different data, the totals do not match precisely. White House officials say that the 66,000 figure was more accurate because it was based on more complete state data, they expect to revise the individual congressional district totals when more accurate information becomes available.

John Schadl

Communications Director

U.S. Congressman Jim Oberstar