North Carolina has been named the state with the the "top business climate" for the fifth year in a row by Site Selection magazine, Gov. Bev Perdue announced this morning.

"We are are all mighty proud given the circumstances we were dealt in January," Perdue said in making the announcement at the Council of State meeting, Rob Christensen reports.

But Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry poured cold water on the announcement. She noted that a half million citizens were about to lose their unemployment benefits and that the state's employment levels had declined to 1999 levels.

Since this time last year, Berry noted, the state had lost more than 200,000 jobs.

Perdue replied that North Carolina was part of "a global recession."

Perdue is a Democrat and Berry is a Republican.

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