From the Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2012:

New Jersey’s private-sector job growth has lagged behind the national average in the aftermath of the recession, according to a new report released Tuesday by a high-profile budget task force.

The Journal notes that the findings come as Gov. Christie has been touting his success at growing private-sector jobs.

The Republican governor has argued that the local economy is making a comeback and is currently locked in a political battle with Democratic lawmakers who have opposed an income-tax cut.

But some see the new report, written with input from former officials who have served in both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations, as underscoring the limits of the Garden State comeback.

“Even what little job growth we’ve had in the private sector has been in lower-skilled jobs,” NJPP president Gordon MacInnes says, adding that the numbers in the report are a reflection of the state placing big bets on slow-growing industries like pharmaceuticals and relying on New York’s financial services industry to boost job growth.