Can partons describe the CDF jet data?

The recent CDF single jet inclusive measurements at Fermilab are incorporated in a global next-to-leading order parton analysis of the available deep inelastic and related data. Using physically motivated parametric forms of the input parton distributions, we find that it is impossible to achieve a simultaneous QCD description of both the CDF jet distribution for transverse energies ET > 200 GeV and the deep inelastic structure function data for x > 0.3. However, the CDF data for ET < 200 GeV and the deep inelastic data are adequately described provided that the QCD coupling αS(MZ2) is increased from its preferred deep inelastic value to αS(MZ2) ⋍ 0.116−0.120.