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N.J.’s senior economist keeps positive outlook, remains cautiously optimistic about state’s economic future
The state’s senior economist said Tuesday that despite growing unease over the nation’s shaky economy, he is not revising his positive outlook for New Jersey.
“We expect the unemployment rate to go down and incomes to rise, maybe not as rapidly as we would like, but that’s what we expect,” said Charles Steindel, chief economist for the New Jersey Department of Treasury.
Steindel’s cautious optimism comes in the wake of a dizzying dose of bad economic news, starting with Standard & Poor’s historic decision Friday to downgrade the federal government’s credit rating, which sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting by 635 points on Monday, the sixth-largest decline in its history. (Renshaw, The Star-Ledger)