Raleigh – Following news that North Carolina’s unemployment rate rose from 7.5 percent in June to 8.5 percent in July, NCDP Chairman Wayne Goodwin released the following statement:

“Nearly six months into this pandemic, our workforce and small business community are still suffering because of the Trump administration’s delayed, mismanaged response to the crisis. Instead of working with Congress to provide more federal aid to businesses, Donald Trump is undermining Social Security; instead of pushing for more testing and supplies for states, he’s bullying our schools to fully reopen even as case numbers across the country rise; and instead of supporting North Carolinians who are out of work, he has cut unemployment benefits by executive order. His backwards priorities have made it clear that he is not capable of rising to this challenge, and that’s exactly why our state is poised to help replace him with Joe Biden in November.”