Gov. Beverly Perdue's inaugural address focused on the economy.

Speaking to thousands of assembled North Carolinans in front of the state archives on Jones Street, Perdue said that the state is "in the midst of a global economic crisis."

"People are actually worried about losing their jobs, about paying their mortgage, about their own personal future," she said.

She pledged to rebuild the state's economy, citing the creation of UNC-Chapel Hill, Research Triangle Park and a Kannapolis biotech center as precedents. She also earned a laugh by citing an unlikely economic development engine.

"No other state can claim to have turned the practice of hauling moonshine into the high-tech, fast-growth engine known as Nascar," she said.

Perdue ended by echoing words she had once used to criticize former Gov. Mike Easley.

"I pledge to be a fully-engaged, hands-on governor," she said. "The people's problems will be solved when we listen to them."

After the jump, the speech as delivered.

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