So what if Gov. King misread a report on U.S. Department of Labor job-growth statistics or that he misspoke in claiming Maine led the nation last year. A tie for seventh still isn’t too shabby.

USDL reports aren’t known for their readability. The error is understandable; the governor’s candor in admitting it is commendable. So too is his candor in admitting there is nothing specific Maine did — other than have a lot of smart, hard-working and out-of-work people — to warrant a robust 2.9-percent increase in jobs. His reluctance to compare the quality of the jobs created with the jobs lost isn’t so praiseworthy.

Especially when his own State Planning Office did just that two months ago with “The Maine Economy: Year-End Review and Outlook 1998.” It’s a remarkably well-written document; breezy in overall tone, downright humorous in places. And it makes a lot of points within the comprehension of the non-economist. Such as the following:

The nation’s rising economic tide lifted boats in other states a couple of years ago; it finally trickled down Maine’s economic dinghy. Of the 4,200 jobs created by new businesses and major expansions, nearly half were at call centers. These are good jobs that pay above-average wages, welcome jobs that gravitate to high-unemployment communities, but poor substitutes for the net loss of 900 higher-paying manufacturing jobs. By far, the most vigorous growth area continues to be the I-95/Turnpike corridor. While every county but one (Oxford) saw declines in unemployment, Northern Maine continues to lose population. Unemployment would tend to drop when people leave to find work.

Not all USDL reports are incomprehensible. A particularly reader-friendly one is the 1996-2006 Employment Projections. It notes that the swap of manufacturing jobs for service jobs is a national trend, hardly unique to Maine. It predicts that future job growth will fall into two categories: High-paying jobs in technology, health-care, finance and management; and low-paying jobs in retail sales, food service and housekeeping and custodial services. Which career track Americans take won’t be a matter of personal preference as much as a matter of education.

At the risk of blatant self-promotion, another good information resource for policy makers would be Maine newspapers, famous for their readability. At this time of year when local school budgets are being formulated, it’s not hard to find stories of small rural districts having to make the dreadful choice between ruinous property-tax increases and devastating cuts in education programs. And if there ever were any frills, there are none left to cut — it’s down to English, math and science. Declining enrollments caused by the population flight to the I-95/Turnpike corridor add to the difficulty of maintaining competitive schools. The quality of life that could make small-town Maine attractive to new employers is being lost.

The governor and the Legislature have some crucial decisions to make in the coming weeks regarding Maine’s willingness to invest in its future. For guidance, they need not slog through dense USDL studies, State Planning Office reports or even, though painful to admit, newspapers. All they need do, really, is open their eyes and look around.