newjerseynewsroom.com

"Rust Belt" states of Michigan, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania show vast improvement

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Despite an overall national improvement in the job market, for the third straight year New Jersey remained among the 10 worst states to find employment in 2010, according to a new Gallup Poll survey.

Specifically, New Jersey ranked 49th behind only Nevada as the worst job market in the United States.

West Virginia and Pennsylvania, frequently billed as "Rust Belt" states, were ranked 6th and 10th as the best places to find work. North Dakota and the District of Columbia were ranked 1st and 2nd.

The poll’s findings come as statistics made public by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development Thursday show that New Jersey gained 5,200 private sector jobs but lost 22,200 government jobs in 2010, compared to a loss of 117,700 private sector jobs and a gain of 4,200 government jobs in 2009.

But the improvement in private sector hiring in 2010 was wiped out in January as preliminary estimates show 13,000 jobs were lost bringing the total of unemployed New Jerseyans to 407,000. Another 3,831,700 residents remain employed. New Jersey’s preliminary unemployment rate remained unchanged in January at 9.1 percent, just above the U.S. rate of 9.0 percent.

Gov. Chris Christie's office declined to comment on the Gallup survey's findings concerning New Jersey's employment picture.

The Gallup survey found the states with the most improvement in job market conditions between 2009 and 2010 included the long-depressed manufacturing “Rust Belt” states of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Gallup Chief Economist Dennis Jacobe said their improved job market likely reflects a significant improvement in U.S. manufacturing last year.

Referring to the worst states when it comes to finding a job - New Jersey and Nevada, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and California - Jacobe said, “These states continue to suffer from the housing crash and financial debacle that was part of the recession.”

Jacobe said more than half of the 10 best job markets in 2010 were in energy- and commodity-producing states. “Most of the 10 states with the worst job markets consisted of finance states of the Northeast and the housing-depressed states of the West.”

Also among the most improved were five of the 10 states that had the worst job markets in 2009: Oregon, Delaware, Arizona, Minnesota, along with Michigan.

New Jersey, Vermont, and New York, Montana and Wyoming ranked among the five state with little or no job outlook improvement between 2009 and 2010.

Reflecting the growth of the federal government, the District of Columbia was not only the second-best job market but also the second-most improved job market in 2010.

Having a significant presence of natural resource-based industries was a distinct job-creation advantage for states such as North Dakota, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Texas. These were among the top 10 job markets in 2010, as they were in 2008 and 2009.

Jacobe said job market conditions in housing-crash and financial industry states like New Jersey will continue to fare comparatively poorly. He said the pickup in manufacturing activity and U.S. exports over the past year has helped improve job market conditions in the Midwest, allowing several industrial states to be in the most improved category, including Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and allowing Michigan to move out of the worst 10 job markets.

Looking ahead, Jacobe said, it seems likely that the overall pattern of state job market conditions across the nation in 2011 will remain similar to those of the past three years. He said energy prices are surging and gas is now $3.29 a gallon nationwide, compared with $2.69 a year ago. High oil prices tend to improve hiring activity in energy-producing states. Similarly, high commodity prices should help job conditions in the farm and mining states.

On the other hand, Jacobe said, the housing market continues to suffer. This suggests that states like New Jersey with the worst housing conditions will continue to see relatively difficult job market conditions for some time.

These results are based on aggregated data from nearly 200,000 interviews with employed adults during 2010, conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking. Gallup asks those who are employed whether their companies are hiring workers and expanding the size of their labor forces, not changing the size of their workforces, or laying off workers and reducing their workforces. The figures reported here represent the net difference between the percentage reporting an expansion and the percentage reporting a reduction in their workforces.

Gallup's Job Creation Index averaged a plus 7 nationwide during 2010, with 28 percent of employees reporting their companies were hiring and 21 percent saying their companies were letting people go. Regionally, job market creation was best in the Midwest and South but lagged behind in the East and West.

New Jersey Democratic chairman Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said Thursday the Gallup survey results confirm that Gov. Chris Christie and Republican legislators have job creation on the back burner.

“It’s time for New Jersey Republicans and this governor to stop worrying about poll numbers and start focusing on the number of workers who need a job,” Wisniewski said. “While they’re busy giving money away to millionaires, struggling workers are looking for employment and new entrepreneurs are hoping for a lifeline to start their business. Instead of demonizing workers and placing blame for the problems of our state, the governor should join with Democrats trying to jumpstart our economy and put people back to work.”