McDonnell Touts Job Gains

Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) announced Thursday that Virginia has seen a net gain of 71,500 jobs in his first six months in office.

McDonnell was sworn in January 16.

"I think what these numbers show is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, something good is happening in Virginia, we're making good choices, we're making smart decisions," says Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R), who also holds the title of Chief Jobs Creation Officer in Virginia.

A spokesman for the administration says it's a net figure that accounts for jobs also lost during that time, particularly from budget cuts by state and local governments.

As part of his announcement, McDonnell called attention to a few recent announcements regarding new jobs in the Valley.

Kraft Foods is expanding in Frederick County, bringing 100 new jobs.

Another 150 jobs are coming to Shenandoah County with the expansion of Mercury Paper.

Waynesboro is also seeing about 40 jobs come to the River City with the expansion of PGI.

These jobs come as many jobs have also been eliminated throughout the Valley.

However, James Madison University economics professor J. Barkley Rosser says the fact that Virginia is seeing net gains now is encouraging.

"I think we're through the worst of it, yes. Job growth continues to be very slow. We seem to be very fortunate here in Virginia that we are doing better than the national average on this," says Rosser.

McDonnell recently came under criticism by a progressive think tank called the Commonwealth Institute. The group projected in March the budget he signed would cost Virgina about 37,000 jobs.