NJ Rebound Will Continue After Sandy Rebuilding, Says Expert [AUDIO]

New Jersey's jobless rate has been dropping and its economic outlook has been improving, but will the good times be short-lived?

Many feel that times will get tough again in the Garden State after the post-Sandy recovery efforts end, but one top-tier expert insists that's not true.

"We've gotten a lot of comment about that," says Dr. Charles Steindel, the State Treasury Department's chief economist. "I don't think that's the case. We have seen for example the beginnings of some gains of construction jobs but even so, not a spectacular rise in construction."

Because he's heard talk of a post-Sandy recovery drop-off, Steindel says he crunched the numbers again recently.

"The jobs gains in the state have been broad-based and they've been going on," explains Steindel. "I don't think you can say it's a Sandy phenomenon."

Revenues grow in economic recoveries and revenues have been growing in New Jersey recently according to Steindel. He feels this will be a pattern that will continue.

According to a Well Fargo NJ Economic Outlook report released last week, after four years of a mostly meager results, New Jersey's economic recovery gained considerable momentum during the first half of 2013.

Hiring picked up and the state's unemployment rate fell steadily. The report suggests the recent improvement in labor market conditions may prove hard to sustain after the Sandy recovery efforts are complete.

"I don't think we've even seen the major wave of Sandy rebuilding yet," says Steindel.