Wednesday, June 3, 2009

NJ: Just The Facts!

IT'S ALL IN THE NUMBERS...

New Jersey's unemployment rate is at 8.4%
, highest in nearly 17 years. (Michael Diamond, "N.J. jobless rate rises to 8.4%," Asbury Park Press, 05/20/09)

New Jersey lost 90,000 jobs, under Corzine. The number of employed individuals in January 2006 was 4,252,296 while in March 2009 it was 4,162,795. (Marcela Ospina Maziarz and Kevin Smith, "New Jersey Unemployment Rate at 8.3 Percent in March; Employment Down by 17,200 Over the Month," Press Release, NJ Department of Labor, 04/15/09)
Since Jon Corzine took office, unemployment in New Jersey has climbed nearly 80 percent. (Bureau of Labor Statistics Website, data.bls.gov, Accessed: 06/03/09)

Jobs have declined for 15 consecutive months. "New Jersey's labor market continued to contract in April as employment fell for the 15th consecutive month." (Marcela Ospina Maziarz and Kevin Smith, "Employment in NJ Fell by 14,400 in April; Unemployment Rate Rose Slightly to 8.4 Percent," Press Release, NJ Department of Labor, 05/20/09)

Economists agree New Jersey's problems existed before the economic meltdown. Joel Nardoff, an economist with TD Bank: "We went into the year in desperate shape and came out a complete basket case[.]" (Michael Diamond, "Economy to remain Job No. 1 in 2009," Asbury Park Press, 12/30/08)

New Jersey is dead LAST - 50 out of 50 - in business climate ranking and businesses are leaving the state for friendlier business climates. Regulation and high business tax rates have given our state's business image a black eye and deterred private sector employment. (Joshua Barro, "2009 State Business Tax Climate Index," The Tax Foundation, October 2008, http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp58.pdf)

A report by Rutgers University ranked New Jersey 46th out of 50 states in total job growth in the first half of 2008, even though its total employment base is the 11th largest. The state was 21st in job growth in 2006. New Jersey only gained 4,700 jobs in 2007 and lost 16,000 in the first eight months of 2008.
(James Hughes, Joseph Seneca, Will Irving, Issue Paper: Number 27, "Reversal of Economic Fortune: Regional and State Prosperity at Risk," April 2008)

Private sector job growth in New Jersey fell behind others in our region:
  • New York...12 times higher private sector job growth than New Jersey
  • Pennsylvania...7 times higher private sector job growth than New Jersey
  • Massachusettes...6 times higher private sector job growth than New Jersey
(James Hughes, Joseph Seneca, Will Irving, Issue Paper: Number 27, "Reversal of Economic Fortune: Regional and State Prosperity at Risk," April 2008)

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