ECONOMIST SAYS CORZINE HAS TAKEN NEW JERSEY'S ECONOMY AN ENTIRE DECADE BACKWARD

RUTGERS ECONOMIST DUBS THE CENTURY'S FIRST TEN YEARS THE "LOST DECADE" BECAUSE NEW JERSEY AND NATION HAVE FEWER PRIVATE JOBS

    Despite Governor Corzine's promises to grow the nation's economy, New Jersey will have fewer private sector jobs today than in December 1999, making it "a lost decade," according to a prominent Rutgers economist.

    "Governor Corzine was supposed to use his business acumen to lead New Jersey's economy forward, unfortunately, he has it shifted in reverse," Assemblyman Scott T. Rumana, R-Passaic, Bergen and Essex said. "Residents, and their employers, are struggling to survive in this state because the governor has kept increasing the state's taxes, debt and spending instead of making New Jersey affordable and providing real reasons for businesses to stay and create jobs here."

    According to data released yesterday, New Jersey's unemployment rose to 9.7 percent in August, mirroring the national average and marking the state's poorest mark since April 1977.

    The Bergen Record quoted Rutgers economist Joseph Seneca calling the rise in unemployment "worrisome" while pointing out that since December 2007, New Jersey has lost 155,700 jobs, wiping out the gains during the economy's expansion from March 2003 to December 2007.

    "If this is progress, New Jersey's future is bleak," Russo, R-Bergen, Passaic and Essex, said. "We are seeing results of endless tax increases and borrowing to satisfy an insatiable appetite to grow government. If we don't put an end to these misguided financial and economic development policies, New Jerseyans will continue to be forced out as the state continues to lose jobs."