FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

HOBBS, NM – "Congressman Teague mistakenly continues to try to convince people that jobs are being created when they are not.  After spending (and borrowing) trillions of dollars on big government programs, Harry Teague thinks things have gotten better. The reality is our economy is worse. Teague won't create jobs because apparently he doesn't think we need them," stated Jason Heffley, campaign spokesman.

According to numbers released by New Mexico's Department of Workforce Solutions, New Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is at 8.2%, which is up from 7.1% a year ago. 

In a NPR interview over the weekend, Teague stated "we went from losing a half million [jobs] a month to having a positive increase every month.  I think most people are aware of that and will vote accordingly."

The Department of Workforce Solutions' release says,

"The rate of over-the-year job growth, comparing June 2010 with June 2009, was negative 1.8 percent, representing a loss of 14,200 jobs. The job count peaked in New Mexico back in April 2008, and since then we have lost thousands of jobs."

The report also showed that 11 of the state's 13 industries posted year-over-year job declines.

"More government spending and higher taxes are not going to fix our economy.  Families and small businesses all across Southern New Mexico continue to struggle and that is unacceptable.  The hiring of part-time census workers does not constitute economic recovery," continued Heffley.

Additionally, the US Department of Labor released numbers last week which showed the number of Americans signing up for first-time unemployment benefits – a gauge of layoffs – surged to 464,000 last week.