Prieto on Jobs Numbers: Governor Should Stop Burying His Head in the Sand, There’s More Work to be Done

(TRENTON) – Assembly Budget Committee Chair Vincent Prieto (D-Bergen/Hudson) on Thursday pointed to the continued rise in New Jersey’s unemployment rate  as a sign that there is still more work to be done to pull the state firmly out of the lingering recession. 

Prieto noted that today’s announcement that New Jersey’s unemployment rate has risen from 9.2 to 9.6 percent, is the highest the state’s jobless rate has been in roughly two years.

“Despite a number of private sector job gains, our unemployment rate continues to rise and remain well above the national average.

“This is especially troubling since the biggest gains came in the area of leisure and hospitality, which typically employ temporary, seasonal workers this time of year.

“And it’s all the more disconcerting because the Governor has vetoed dozens of jobs bills we’ve passed over the last two years while falsely trumpeting a ‘Jersey Comeback.’  Repeating something ad nauseam doesn’t make it reality.

“Instead of yelling at everyone to ‘get the hell off the beach,’ he should stop burying his head in the sand.  There’s more work to be done,” said Prieto.