TRENTON-After several months of net gains in the number of jobs, New Jersey lost an estimated 600 jobs from June to July. The latest state figures show that the current unemployment rate of 5 percent is up from 3.5 percent in March of 2001, when the recession began. New Jersey is one of 45 states where the unemployment rate is greater now than it was at the beginning of the recession. New York lost 16,900 jobs over this period, Pennsylvania lost 2,800 and Delaware lost 700.

Six hundred jobs lost in New Jersey may not seem like a lot. But given that the state has had one of the fastest growing economies in terms of job creation, it is not a good indication for New Jersey's or the country's economic health.

"This job loss, coupled with the recent trend of new jobs offering lower pay and fewer benefits than jobs they replace, is a double blow to people trying to support themselves and their families, said NJPP President Jon Shure.

The federal Jobs and Growth Plan, enacted in June 2003, was supposed to boost the economy by cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans. But trickle-down economics is not creating more jobs. As of July 2004, the federal plan has fallen 42,000 jobs short of projections in New Jersey and 3.978 million jobs short for the country.

Over the 13-month period from June 2003 to July 2004, 116,500 jobs were projected to be created in New Jersey under the tax cut plan. To hit the federal target, New Jersey would have to gain 17,400 jobs per month for the rest of the year. That is unlikely to happen, especially in view of a slowdown the state is now experiencing in the creation of new jobs.

In 49 states and Washington, DC, the federal tax plan has fallen short of projections.

Job growth in New Jersey since the recession ended in November 2001 has been only 1.1 percent, while the working age population has grown by 2.1 percent. The number of new jobs is not keeping up with the increase in the available labor force. In New Jersey, job gains in education and health services, construction and financial activities were offset by losses in trade, transportation and utilities and professional and business services. Incidentally, New Jersey has 39,500 fewer manufacturing jobs in July than when the recession ended 32 months ago, a decline of 10.3 percent.

And it appears that more workers are headed for pink slips. The latest WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) posting on the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development website shows the following companies plan to close plants or have mass layoffs within 60 days:

JULY WARN NOTICES
Company	City	Layoff Begin	Workers
Puerto Rican Action Bd.	New Brunswick	8/30/04	50
Riveria Trading	Secaucus	7/2/04	60
Unicco Service Co.	East Rutherford	8/20/04	429
Brown & Williamson	Bridgewater	8/31/04	62
Brown & Williamson	Princeton	8/31/04	58
Qualex	Fair Lawn	8/29/04	230
NJ Acd. for Aquatic Sci.	Camden	9/7/04	246
Norvergence	Newark/Jersey City	6/30/04	800
General Mills	Swedesboro	7/13/04	105
Sharp Corporation	West Caldwell	9/8/04	250
Breuners Home Furn.	Linden	7/12/04	173
Permacel	North Brunswick	9/20/04	149
Chef Solutions	Burlington	9/30/04	75
Guidant Sales	Marlton	9/27/04	1
Sungard PowerPartner	Mt. Laurel	7/7/04	61

The JobWatch analysis takes into account differences that can be expected among states in terms of job creation. The Economic Policy Institute uses state-by-state employment forecasts from Economy.com, a leading forecaster of regional economics. Economy.com provides employment projections for each state for the fourth quarter of 2002 to the fourth quarter of 2004. Using this data, EPI calculated each state's share of the total employment growth and applied it to the projected 306,000-jobs-per month growth rate to calculate how much employment growth each state should experience if the federal government's employment projects were realized. That works out to an average of 9,000 new jobs per month for New Jersey. For more on JobWatch, go to http://www.jobwatch.org

Economic Policy Institute's JobWatch tracks current trends in the U.S. labor market and offers up-to-date readings on its status. New Jersey Policy Perspective is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts research and analysis aimed at providing information to help inform debate in New Jersey.

TAX REFORM

WORK & WAGES

BUDGET & FISCAL POLICY

TRANSIT ISSUES

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

VOTING & GOVT REFORM

© 2008 New Jersey Policy Perspective