N.J. to hire up to 1,000 temporary workers to help wtih recovery
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2012, 8:34 PM
BY MICHAEL LINHORST
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
THE RECORD
As many as 1,000 unemployed New Jerseyans will soon be hired by the state to help with the recovery from Hurricane Sandy, the state announced Friday.
A fallen tree and leaning utility pole block the roadway near Heights Rd. and West Glen Ave. in Ridgewood on Tuesday, Oct. 31, a day after Hurricane Sandy battered New Jersey.
The federal government approved a $15.6 million National Emergency Grant on Friday that will pay for the temporary workers. Each worker can be paid a maximum of $12,000 and kept at work for up to six months.
Local governments will hire the workers to help with cleanup and reconstruction of public property, according to the governor’s office. The workers may also provide food, water and other assistance to disaster victims.
The program not only comes after a devastating hurricane, but also after months of stubbornly high unemployment in New Jersey. The state’s unemployment rate, one of the highest in the country, fell slightly to 9.8 percent last month.
The emergency grant totals $15.6 million, with $5.2 million released immediately.
The funding will only be available to workers in the 10 counties that have been declared federal disaster areas. Those counties include Bergen, as well as Atlantic, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Union counties.