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Tags18,100 government workers and teachers out of work
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
UPDATED
The loss of 18,100 government and school jobs in July bumped New Jersey unemployment rate up 0.1 percentage point to 9.7 percent, the first monthly increase since reaching a high of 10 percent in December.
The lost jobs included 14,700 in local and county government and public schools and 3,600 related to the winding down of the U.S. Census.
Another 3,100 jobs were lost in the private sector.
The loss in government and school jobs can be contributed, at least in part, to Gov. Chris Christie's decision to cut state aid to local government by $445 million and $820 million to public schools as he attempted to close a $10 billion budget deficit.
In June, 5,600 public and private sector jobs were lost statewide.
In July, five of ten job sectors recorded job losses while four registered gains and one was unchanged.
Declines occurred in professional and business services, 2,300), construction, 1,700), and leisure and hospitality, 1,300. The decrease in professional and business services was driven by the loss of 3,600 jobs in administrative support, waste management/remediation component which overshadowed 1,100 new jobs in professional, scientific and technical services.
Construction employment was lower for the third time in the last four months due to weakness in the residential construction. In leisure and hospitality, 4,100 new jobs in the arts, entertainment and recreation component did not offset the loss of 5,400 jobs in accommodation and food services. Another 900 jobs were lost in manufacturing and 500 in trade, transportation and utilities.The only sector with a sizeable job gain was other services which added 2,500 jobs. This sector includes businesses such as automotive repair services, personal care services and business/professional organizations. Lesser gains were recorded in education and health services, 700, financial activities, 200, and information, 200.
In his role as state Democratic chairman, Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) was quick to blame Christie for the unemployment increase.
"Instead of putting policies in place to get people paychecks, the only increases we've seen under this governor are the number of struggling job seekers collecting unemployment checks,'' Wisniewski said. He added, "On top of the increase in unemployment, thanks to this governor the middle class is paying higher taxes and increased costs.''
Assembly Budget Chairman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden), sponsor of bill (A-1678) which Christie vetoed, said the legislation would have created a homebuyer tax credit in New Jersey to create new construction jobs and boost economic growth.
"This report is terrible news for New Jerseyans, but also one of the many unfortunate consequences of Governor Christie's inability to understand the job-creating benefits of this New Jersey homebuyer tax credit,'' Greenwald said. "Everyone knew this veto meant carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, pipefitters and builders would continue to struggle to find work, and this report makes it even more clear that the private sector continues hurting.''
Greenwald said the tax credit would have created credit would have created an estimated 18,150 jobs, bringing in more than $500 million in state income tax revenue.
"... When a home is sold in New Jersey, income generated from real estate related industries and expenditures such as furniture and appliances totals nearly $40,000,'' Greenwald said. "That equals higher revenues for the state, including increased sales and income tax collections that would be more than enough to cover the $33 million per year cost of this 3-year tax credit program especially designed to help the middle-class.''
Responding to Greenwald's comments, Michael Drewniak, Christie's press secretary, said, "Let's get this straight. Assemblyman Greenwald is saying that the consequence of the governor's veto on July 23 of the Greenwald bill is a loss of jobs occurring in June and July? Hmm. Maybe Assemblyman Greenwald could explain how this could happen without stepping into a time warp in an alter universe, where logic, time and place are turned on their heads."
During July, the unadjusted workweek for manufacturing workers was unchanged at 40.5 hours. Average hourly earnings decreased by $0.09 to $18.85 and weekly earnings were down by $3.64 to $763.43. Compared with July of last year, the unadjusted workweek was lower by 1.0 hour, average hourly earnings increased by $0.55 and weekly earnings were up by $3.98.
