Data to fact check economic claims

Economic issues have taken center stage during this year's elections. Candidates for office are trying to tap into voters' discontent about unemployment, government spending and housing.

It's easy for journalists and the public to get lost when politicians toss out economic statistics to score points. So IRE and the Sunlight Foundation have teamed up to bring you EconoCheck, which provides details about these key economic stats and links to the source data.

Bill Allison, Sunlight's editorial director, offers examples of recent candidate claims that EconoCheck can help you evaluate in your reporting.

EconoCheck is funded by a grant from John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.