Over 2300 new jobs were created in the New England North West last year, and 15,000 across NSW according to the state government, however local business leaders have warned that statistics can't always be trusted.
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In announcing the creation of 95,600 jobs since 2015, NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet said "the people of regional NSW are the backbone of the state," a sentiment echoed by local member Kevin Anderson.
"We've seen a lot of jobs growth happening over the past five years and this is testament to the hard-working men and women in our regional areas," Mr Perrottet said.
"Our record $89.7 billion infrastructure spend is fuelling record low unemployment and making a real difference in every corner of the state."
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Meanwhile NSW Business Chamber regional manager Joe Townsend said the infrastructure expenditure has only been a fraction of what has been promised during election cycles.
"It is positive to see the job, and population growth, however business confidence has declined sharply - statistics are only really meaningful if they are looked at over the long term," he said.
"The roll-out of government expenditure has been slow, which is why we need to start holding these governments to account.
"Government investment will help small business."
Tamworth Business Chamber president Jye Segboer agreed, stating that apart from the abattoirs he was unaware of a local industry experiencing growth.
"A lot of businesses are almost at the point of laying people off - belts have been tightened because of the drought," he said.
"The treasurer and Kevin Anderson made no mention of youth unemployment, which, at about 7.8 per cent in Tamworth, is the highest in the state.
"I know the election was only a few months ago, but a lot of promises were made and we have not seen any action yet."
On Monday Mr Anderson praised the state government for dropping unemployment rates from 6.4 to 6.2 per cent.
"We've seen a lot of jobs growth happening over the past five years and this is testament to the hard-working men and women in our regional areas," he said.
"I've also been working hard to create opportunities for our young people to get further training.
"The budget last year announced 100,000 free apprenticeships for young people entering the workforce and earlier this year the government announced 100,000 free TAFE courses."
Mr Segboer hopes to see a "percentage breakdown" of where those courses are taken up, after seeing "a majority of the apprenticeships taken by metro and coastal areas."
"We need to see a number of those positions secured for inland NSW where they are needed, not in Newcastle and on the coast," he said.
