ReutersRick Perry speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference.Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry called the unemployment rate a “sham” at a key conservative political gathering on Friday. The comments came as the unofficial race to be the presidential nominee in 2016 heated up at the four-day Conservative Political Action Conference, which features possible candidates such as Perry, former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Perry did not overtly attack the methodology of the unemployment data, only the broader picture of the U.S. economy. The chief executive of the Gallup polling firm, Jim Clifton, recently went further and called the unemployment rate a “big lie.” Perry noted that one in 10 are unemployed, underemployed or not seeking work. That’s measured by the so-called U-6 measure of underemployment. That stood at 11.3% in January, as opposed to the 5.7% headline unemployment rate. “I am going to say this quite plainly. The unemployment rate is a sham. It leaves millions of American workers uncounted,” he said. “And if the Republican Party doesn’t take a stand for these uncounted Americans, who will?” Perry said he would do so by applying the model used in Texas, which he said was to control taxes and spending, make smart regulations, develop an educated work force and stop lawsuit abuse. Steve Goldstein