Truth-O-Meter hits both political parties with a False

Both political parties took a hit this weekend on the Truth-O-Meter.

In case you missed it, the Truth-O-Meter handed down False rulings Sunday to a claim about jobs by Gov. Chris Christie, and Monday to a claim by Assemblyman Vincent Prieto about the state budget.

Christie claim

During a June 14 press conference, the Republican governor claimed New Jersey was responsible for creating 25 percent of all new jobs in the nation in May and said Democrats should take note of that fact. But the Truth-O-Meter found that Christie should take note of how to properly compare labor statistics.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said June 1 that the nation saw a net increase of 69,000 nonfarm jobs in May. New Jersey saw an increase that month of 17,600 nonfarm jobs. Christie’s mistake was including the 17,600 as part of the overall 69,000.

The bureau separately develops estimates for the nation as a whole and for each individual state.  As a result, compiling the state numbers will not necessarily equal the national total. That’s why it’s misleading to compare the two, according to the bureau.

Prieto claim

Prieto (D-Hudson) had his facts wrong when he said during an interview on My9News’ “New Jersey Now” program that New Jersey’s budget is the biggest spending plan in state history and currently the largest in the United States.

While Christie’s proposed budget is one of the largest budget plans in New Jersey history, former Gov. Jon Corzine proposed higher budgets, the Truth-O-Meter found. A spokesman for the Assembly Democrats said Prieto was referring to a larger measure of spending that also includes federal money, but the assemblyman never made that distinction during his interview, which aired June 17.

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