New Jersey frustrated with slow job growth
ASBURY PARK, N.J. — New Jersey's job growth the past year was the second worst in the nation, figures released last week show, continuing a trend that has seen the state walk in place while the rest of the nation picks up speed.
It frustrates entrepreneurs such as Roy LaManna, whose Freehold technology company Vydia.com recently received close to $1 million in financing, putting it squarely in growth mode. He decided to expand in New York City, after he couldn't attract the talent here that he needs.
"New Jersey used to be known as a technology hub," LaManna said. "People just don't think of it as that anymore."
The past year has done little to change that. New Jersey added just 9,200 jobs from October 2013 to October 2014, for a growth rate of 0.23 percent. It was better only than Alaska, which was the only state to lose jobs during the same time, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
It is a sign that the Garden State is going through a painful transition. Its suburban culture with sprawling corporate campuses served it well after World War II. But the giant companies that occupied them — Lucent Technologies Inc., Merck & Co. and Sanofi, for example — consolidated or moved away. And the state is poorly equipped for a new economy, fueled by the millennial generation that prizes teamwork and flexibility, experts said.
Analysts say New Jersey is stumbling as it tries to find its footing in the recovery. Among the figures:
• The state in October lost 4,500 jobs and its unemployment rate rose to 6.6 percent from 6.5 percent. By comparison, the U.S. as a whole recorded a net gain of 214,000 jobs, and its jobless rate declined to 5.8 percent from 5.9 percent, according the preliminary statistics from BLS.
• Taken over a year, New Jersey is creating just 767 jobs a month, the data shows.
• Other states are motoring ahead. Low-cost states like Texas and Florida that long have touted their business-friendly climates have done well the past year. But so have higher-cost states. Oregon, where the minimum wage is $9.10 an hour, has the fifth fastest growth rate.
• The Northeast is growing more slowly, but other states there also outpace New Jersey. New York has created more than 100,000 jobs the past year for a growth rate of 1.13 percent — nearly five times the rate of New Jersey.
One positive can be found digging deep into the numbers. The survey calculating the unemployment rate found that lots more New Jerseyans said they were either employed or actively searching for jobs.
But the survey is complicated; it asks residents if they are employed, but not "where." It has led analysts to think many of them are working in Pennsylvania and New York.
It wouldn't surprise LaManna. His company sells advertising for independent musicians whose videos are seen on YouTube, a business that seems perfectly tailored to the digital age. He already has signed up 10,000 artists, he said.
With 12 employees and a new round of financing secured, LaManna wanted to expand near Freehold, but he said he couldn't convince talented workers to make the move.
So LaManna decided to keep an office here for the company's administrative headquarters, and he will open an office in New York for the more highly paid technology workers.
"They want to work in Manhattan," he said.