ALBANY— Today's announcement by the US Department of Labor that the nation's employers shed another 247,000 jobs in July is stark reminder that while the worst of the recession may be behind us, job losses continue to mount and people looking for work have a long and difficult road ahead of them.
“Here in New York State, with more than 850,000 people out of work, the situation is especially grim,” said Kenneth Adams, president & CEO of The Business Council of New York State. “The key to economic recovery is private sector job growth, so we need the governor and legislative leaders to do all they can to clear the obstacles out of the way.”
In the wake of Governor Paterson's recent announcement that New York faces a new $2.1 billion budget gap, The Business Council is urging the governor and the legislature to resolve the deficit by cutting spending and not raising taxes again, since new tax increases will kill prospects for job growth.
“We fully agree with Governor Paterson when he says, ‘I think we've raised enough fees and we've raised enough taxes,'” said Adams. “The governor nailed it the other day when he said that more had to be done to control spending.”
“The governor said, ‘at this point we're going to have to tighten our belts,' and he is absolutely right,” added Adams. “That has to be the strategy moving forward.”
“The state budget passed in early April raised taxes in New York by a whopping $6 billion,” said Adams. “That was the anti-stimulus plan. There's no way we can go there again.”