FEDERAL LABOR STATISTICS REFUTE GOVERNOR CORZINE'S EXCUSES FOR N.J.'S HORRIBLE ECONOMY

WHILE THE GOVERNOR SAYS NEW JERSEY'S DISMAL ECONOMIC SITUATION IS NOT UNIQUE, SEVERAL NEARBY STATES ARE PERFORMING BETTER

    Federal labor data released today show that New Jersey's joblessness rate continues to lag behind other states in the region under Gov. Jon S. Corzine's failed economic policies, Assemblymen John Amodeo and Vince Polistina, both R-Atlantic, said today.

    New Jersey's unemployment reached 9.8 percent in September 2009 - its poorest mark since April 1977 - while several nearby states were cited in the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics release for having unemployment rates significantly lower than the national average, which is also 9.8 percent. They include: Connecticut (8.4 percent), Delaware (8.3 percent), New York (8.9 percent) and Pennsylvania (8.8 percent).

    "All states are struggling, but the governor's claims that New Jersey's economic woes are solely the fault of national problems and not his own flawed policies are clearly refuted by these statistics," Amodeo said. "Governor Corzine, along with previous governors and the Democratic Legislature, have set New Jersey's economy back decades by foolishly and repeatedly raising taxes and placing excessive restrictions on business."

    Polistina and Amodeo said it is unfair that so many New Jerseyans are out-of-work because the Governor has been preoccupied instructing his top officials to "be creative" and stage press events to disguise his economic record instead of considering the comprehensive Assembly Republican plan to rebuild New Jersey's economy. The plan, available at www.njassemblyrepublicans.com, calls for an honest and stable budget, which is a basic step toward lowering the taxes that cripple New Jersey, controlling run-away state spending and debt, and changing the tax and regulatory climate so businesses will locate in New Jersey and create more jobs here.

    "Instead of focusing on real policies that will get people back to work, Governor Corzine and his top aides are more focused on trying to be cute with unemployment figures and staging news events to make it appear as if the governor has created jobs when New Jersey has lost 128,900 jobs in the past year," Polistina said. "But numbers can't be twisted; Governor Corzine has failed to deliver on his promises of economic growth."