Northern
Regional Summary
Review of
2007 and Outlook for 2008
After posting a gain of 7,000 in 2006, total nonfarm employment in the nine-county Northern New Jersey Region was virtually unchanged in 2007. Based on nine-month averages (January to September), employment in the region went up just 800 to total 1,971,600 in 2007.
While the over-the-year change may have been marginal, there were significant changes within the labor areas contained in the region. A gain of 2,900 jobs in the Newark Labor Area was mostly offset by the loss of 2,100 jobs in the Bergen/Hudson/Passaic Labor Area. In comparison, statewide employment grew 0.5 percent over the same period.
In the nine-county region, a gain of
9,600 jobs in the service-providing sector just barely offset a loss of 8,800
jobs in the goods-producing sector. The
largest gains were in government (+3,600), other services and educational and
health services (+3,000 each), and leisure and hospitality (+1,100). Cancelling out most of these gains were
losses in manufacturing (-7,400), professional and business services (-1,600),
and construction (-1,400).
Job growth in the Northern Region is
expected to be modest, at best, in 2008.
Because the population is projected to keep growing, there will be a need for more jobs in educational and health services, government, and retail trade. The negative job trend in manufacturing is expected to continue.
Bergen/Hudson/Passaic
Labor Area
Review of
2007 and Outlook for 2008
By
In 2007, total nonfarm wage and
salary employment in the Bergen/Hudson/Passaic Labor Area was affected by a
slumping housing market, problems in the mortgage industry, weakening consumer
demand, and the shrinking manufacturing sector.
Employment averaged 898,600, down 0.2 percent (-2,100 jobs) from 2006,
based on nine-month averages (January to September). In contrast, statewide employment grew 0.5
percent during the same period. Since
reaching a recessionary low of 897,400 in 2002, employment in the three-county
labor area has increased just 0.1 percent, significantly slower than the
state’s 2.7 percent gain.
In the labor area, job losses this year
were concentrated in the manufacturing (-3,500), professional and
business services (-2,400), construction (-1,300), and trade, transportation
and utilities (-1,000) industry sectors. In manufacturing,
the losses, which have been steady since 1998, were equally divided between the
durable goods and non-durable goods segments.
The labor area’s rate of loss was twice as fast as the state’s (-4.6%
vs. -2.3%). With stiff competition and
high operating costs, manufacturers continued to cutback, close or move
production to lower cost areas. H.C.
Starck, a producer of metal and ceramic powders, completed its move from
Carlstadt (-125 jobs) to
Employment in professional and
business services declined for the second straight year. With a slowing economy, demand has dropped
for professional, scientific, technical (-1,000 jobs) and administrative
support and waste management and remediation services (-1,400 jobs). This industry sector provides services to
businesses and individuals, such as legal, accounting/payroll, engineering,
computer, human resources, administrative support, building maintenance, and
security. In June, Givaudan Flavors,
Inc., a Swiss-based producer of flavors and fragrances, closed its facility in
The loss in trade, transportation and utilities was mostly in retail trade (-1,000 jobs). Much of this loss resulted from a drop in consumer demand caused, in part, by the crisis in the mortgage industry and to job security worries. Food and beverage stores and general merchandise stores each posted a loss of 500 jobs from the same period in 2006.
Although total employment in the Bergen/Hudson/Passaic Labor Area was down in 2007, there were job gains in some industry sectors. The more significant ones were in other services (+2,300), leisure and hospitality (+1,800), and government (+1,300). Population growth in the labor area and surrounding counties helped fuel the job growth in other services and government, primarily at the local level (+1,700). Other services include automotive repair and maintenance services, personal care and laundry services, and religious, grantmaking, civic, and professional organizations.
In leisure and hospitality, the positive
job growth trend, which began in 1993, continued in 2007. From 1993 to 2007, 17,000 jobs were created, a
growth rate of 36.9 percent that was faster than the state’s 29.0 percent
gain. During the first nine months of
2007, job gains occurred mainly in accommodation and food services (+1,000),
which includes hotels, full-service restaurants and limited-service (fast food)
eating places. Maggiano’s Little
Italy and P.F. Chang’s recently opened at Riverside Square Mall in
The Bergen/Hudson/Passaic Labor
Area’s unemployment rate averaged 4.5 percent for the first nine months of
2007, down from 5.0 percent in 2006. The
unemployment rate in each county of the labor area also showed improvement from
2006 –
Job growth in 2008 in the Bergen/Hudson/Passaic Labor Area is expected to continue to remain slow and to lag the rest of the state. The industry sectors that could generate employment growth are construction, educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and other services.
In construction, the employment
outlook should continue to be positive in 2008.
Large developments currently under construction include: the Meadowlands
Xanadu Sport Complex and Giants/Jets Stadium projects in the Meadowlands, the
320,000-sq.ft. retail and
The positive trend in the leisure
and hospitality sector should continue in 2008.
More restaurants are expected to open during the year. Rosa Mexicana, a Mexican restaurant at the
Riverside Square Mall in
The 2008 unemployment rate in the Bergen/Hudson/Passaic Labor Area is expected to continue to be in the 4.0 to 5.0 range.
For more information on the Bergen/Hudson/Passaic
Labor Area, please contact James McGarry by e-mail at
james.mcgarry@dol.state.nj.us or call (973) 648-3866.
Review of
2007 and Outlook for 2008
Essex, Hunterdon,
By
Total nonfarm wage and salary employment in the five-county Newark-Union Labor Market Area reached a record high of 1,033,800 in 2007, based on nine-month averages (January-September). Employers added 2,900 jobs for a growth rate of 0.3 percent, compared to 0.5 percent statewide. Though positive, this was slower than during the 2005-2006 period when employment grew 0.7 percent in the labor area and 0.9 percent in the state. This moderation in job growth in 2007 was due, in part, to the slowing national economy.
Over the 2006-2007 period, job gains in
the labor area’s service-providing sector (+6,700) were somewhat offset by
losses in the goods-producing sector (-3,800).
The more significant service-providing job gains were 2,200 each in
educational and health services, government, and 1,600 in trade, transportation
and utilities.
Population growth was a key factor in the
increased number of jobs in educational and health services and
government. Employment in educational
and health services reached an 18-year average high of 142,500 in 2007 (1990
employment data by NAICS code is the earliest available).
Most of the gain from 2006 occurred in colleges, universities and
professional schools and in health care and social assistance. The increase in health care and social
assistance was due mainly to hospitals expanding services, such as sports
medicine, rehabilitation services, and wellness centers. The labor area is home to several
large hospitals, including
The increase in trade,
transportation and utilities was more than three times the gain experienced in
2006 (+1.6% vs. +0.5%). However, the
214,500-job total in 2007 remained below the pre-recession high of 221,700 in
2001. Almost all of the job gain in the
labor area was due to growth in the retail trade segment. After losing 100 jobs each in 2005 and 2006,
retail trade bounced back with 1,500 new jobs and reached a record high of
103,300 in 2007. Some of the stores that opened during the
first nine months of this year included a Super Stop & Shop
supermarket in Union Township, an Eckerd drug store in Califon, a Walgreens
drug store in Raritan Township, and a Polo Ralph Lauren Children’s, Gymboree
Outlet, and Michael Kors stores in Flemington.
The gain would have been higher except for the loss of over 250 jobs due
to the closing of three chain stores, Rockaway Bedding, Comp USA, and the Rag
Shop. Although, the number of jobs in
the transportation, warehousing and utilities segment remained virtually
unchanged from 2006, the air transportation industry added 900 jobs, reaching a
high of 17,000 for 2007. Air services at
Within the professional and business services industry sector, the picture was mixed in 2007. The sector, which provides services to both companies and individuals that include professional, scientific, technical, management, and administrative support, added 600 jobs during the first nine months in 2007. A gain of 2,600 jobs in professional, scientific and technical services, however, was mostly eclipsed by losses in administrative support and waste management and remediation services (-1,600) and in management of companies and enterprises (-400). Less demand for these services was probably related to a slowing economy.
The five-county labor area’s shrinking
manufacturing base was largely responsible for the overall loss in the
goods-producing sector (-3,800 jobs) from 2006 to 2007. Once the mainstay of the labor area’s
economy, factory payrolls fell by 3,700 or 4.1 percent, with losses in both the
durable (-2,300) and non-durable goods (-1,400) segments. These losses were due to automation,
closings, cutbacks, mergers, and relocations.
Affected industries included chemicals, fabricated metals, food
products, paper manufacturing, plastics and rubber products, machinery
manufacturing, and nonmetallic mineral products.
The unemployment rate for both the
Newark/Union Labor Area and the state averaged 4.4 percent for the first nine
months of 2007, down from 4.9 percent in 2006.
All five counties in the labor area recorded decreases in their
unemployment rates, ranging from a drop of 0.6 percentage point in Hunterdon to
0.2 percentage points in
Even though total employment in the Newark-Union Labor Market Area reached a record high in 2007 and employment growth has generally been positive since its low point of 907,200 in 1992, there is some uncertainty about which way the job picture will go in 2008. Not until the effects from the tumult in the mortgage industry, a slumping housing market, a declining manufacturing sector, and a weak dollar on the labor area’s economy are known will there be a clear picture on whether total job growth will be positive or negative next year.
In the labor area, any job growth
is expected
to be mainly in trade, transportation and utilities and in educational and
health services. In trade,
transportation and utilities, more jobs are anticipated in the retail trade and
the transportation and warehousing segments.
In September, construction began on The Shoppes at Flemington in
Flemington. The shopping center will
have smaller, high-end merchants, including Ann Taylor Loft, Coldwater Creek,
J. Jill, Lane Bryant, New York & Company, Talbots, Limited Too, The
Children’s Place, and Bensi. The
shopping center is expected to open next fall with 30 to 33 retail and food
establishments. In
Most of the new jobs in educational and
health services are anticipated to be in health and social assistance, which
includes home health care services, medical offices, and nursing and personal
care facilities. As the area’s
population continues to expand and age, demand should increase for medical and
social services, especially among the poor and the elderly.
There could be some more
softening in construction employment in 2008 as some major projects are nearing
completion and if residential construction continues to slowdown. Some of the construction projects scheduled
for completion this year are the
Projects underway or about to
begin include the three-building Picatinny Applied Research Campus in Rockaway
Township; the New Jersey headquarters for L’Oreal USA in Berkeley Heights; the
North American Consumer Products Creative Center for Givaudan Flavors, Inc., a
Swiss-based producer of flavors and fragrances, in East Hanover; a $300-million
pharmaceutical sciences research center and office campus at the
Schering-Plough Research Institute in Summit; and a new corporate headquarters for the Wyndham Worldwide Corporation in
Parsippany. Infrastructure
projects under construction include the
The labor area’s unemployment rate in 2008 could fluctuate between 4.5
percent and 5.0 percent in the coming year.
For more information on the Newark-Union Labor
Area, please contact
Warren Labor
Area
Review of
2007 and Outlook for 2008
By
In
From 2006 to 2007, Warren County had job gains of 200 in professional and business services and 100 each in trade, transportation and utilities, and government that were overshadowed by job losses of 200 in manufacturing and 100 each in financial activities and educational and health services.
The manufacturing sector
continued to contract in 2007, but the rate of loss was slower than last year
(-3.6% vs. -8.2%). Manufacturing’s share
of total employment fell from 20.3 percent in 2000 to 13.8 percent in 2007. Even with the job loss this year, there was
still some positive news. For example, a
former warehouse in
The
Even though the employment
outlook for
In retail trade, Shop-Rite is
replacing a smaller supermarket with a larger one in
Any job growth in educational and health services will be concentrated in the health care and social assistance segment, while the need for increased staffing of schools could boost payrolls in local government.
The unemployment rate in the
For more information on