Jones Lang LaSalle
New Jersey adding jobs at healthy pace
By JEANNE RIDGWAY
Courier-Post Staff
April and May were good months for private-sector employment in New Jersey. The state added 12,300 new jobs, the best gain this year.The spike offsets a small job loss during 2006's first quarter, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Overall, New Jersey added a net 11,900 private-sector jobs since the start of the year.
"The state is doing better than we have done during the last two years, and better than the rest of the country," said Philip Kirschner, New Jersey Business & Industry Association president.
"If we can get to four straight months of growth, that's a solid trend and that is something that the state should be able to crow about," Kirschner said.
Protocall Staffing in Cherry Hill is making 33 percent more in sales this year filling orders for temporary industrial workers. Overall, "our industry expects to increase our sales figures by 9.1 percent," said Roy Fazio, Protocall's vice president. The company is also helping many companies find full-time workers, especially in the office/administrative field. "We are up 12 to 13 percent in fees for direct hire," Fazio said. "The higher the skill level, the greater the need to fill it." Higher-paying jobs in The Burlington-Camden-Gloucester county region is outpacing the state in generating jobs, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
In May, the figures were 1.5 percent for the tri-county region, compared with 1 percent for the rest of the state. The tri-county area is also generating higher-paying jobs.
"Professional and business services are picking up strongly," said Tim Schiller, senior economic analyst for the Fed.
"There is also a lot of construction of office buildings, and that's another view of it," he said.
On the negative side, residential building is slacking off and consumer reaction to higher fuel prices is still waiting to be felt, Schiller said.
Overall, "I think what we are going to see is slower growth in the year's second half, both locally and nationally. It looks like an orderly transition to a more subdued pace," Schiller said.
The New Jersey Business and Industry Association expects fuel prices to eventually dampen consumer confidence and business buying. For now, people are spending.
"The ability of the consumers to adjust is remarkable. If you want to drive your car or buy certain products, you just hold your breath and do it," Kirschner said. Consumers' ability to adapt is also reflected in the travel industry this summer.
"I don't think that the price of gasoline has affected the vacation level too much," said Stephanie Mensch, public affairs manager for AAA South Jersey. "It's the everyday travel that is hitting us in the pocketbook," she said. Closer to home consumers continue to travel, but they are staying closer to home, Mensch noted. "This is New Jersey, and people go to the shore," she said. On June 21, a driver in South Jersey paid $2.87 for a gallon of gasoline. This compares with $2.06 a gallon sold on the same date last year.
In residential real estate, the resale of preowned houses in South Jersey picked up during the first quarter of 2006, with 52,500 units sold, compared with 49,600 units during the final quarter in 2005. Buyer affordability continues to slip statewide, though, with a $84,672 annual family income needed to buy the median-priced home priced at $356,700. The state median income is $80,613.
For buyers in South Jersey, resale prices are much lower than the state as a whole. Also, prices are not rising at the giddy pace they once were. During the year's first quarter, the median price for a resale home was $226,100, an increase of just $100 over the final quarter of 2005.
Nationwide, demand for commercial real estate space remains healthy. The sector is not without concerns, however, including energy costs, rising interest rates and slower-than-expected job growth, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Bill Glazer, Keystone Property Group president, believes in the possibilities for commercial real estate profit in South Jersey. Keystone, of Conshohocken, Pa., purchased the Barrington Industrial Park in February, which is now 95 percent occupied, up from 30 percent. Keystone is also redeveloping 112 W. Park Drive, a 115,000-square-foot office building in East Gate, Mount Laurel.
"That will be a best-in-class asset. We are looking among the best national tenants to fill it, a company that would be a household name because that is the caliber of the building we are building," Glazer said.
"Rental rates are just starting to tighten now. Since 9/11, the market has been soft. It's taken many years to backfill that excess supply, and now it's beginning to impact on the rates," Glazer said.
Signals are "go" for more development in Atlantic City, where economic growth is resonating within the entire South Jersey economy.
By itself, the casino industry has brought aggressive development to the shore. Now the region sees new opportunities to enhance the total experience for visitors through other types of development, such as retail, golfing and fine dining.
Ripple effect
"The casino industry has an enormous ripple effect on the whole economy, including housing and malls," said Milton Leontiades, former dean of the Rutgers School of Business.
More expansion is anticipated as serious money is placed on new land tracts in Atlantic City, Leontiades said.
"Recent acquisitions by Morgan Stanley and MGM promise added impetus to a growing economy at the shore," he said. "It's a money pump for the state and particularly for that region."
Reach Jeanne Ridgway at (856) 486-2479 or jridgway@courierpostonline.com
Published: June 23. 2006 3:10AM
New Jersey adding jobs at healthy pace
By JEANNE RIDGWAY
Courier-Post Staff
April and May were good months for private-sector employment in New Jersey. The state added 12,300 new jobs, the best gain this year.The spike offsets a small job loss during 2006's first quarter, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Overall, New Jersey added a net 11,900 private-sector jobs since the start of the year.
"The state is doing better than we have done during the last two years, and better than the rest of the country," said Philip Kirschner, New Jersey Business & Industry Association president.
"If we can get to four straight months of growth, that's a solid trend and that is something that the state should be able to crow about," Kirschner said.
Protocall Staffing in Cherry Hill is making 33 percent more in sales this year filling orders for temporary industrial workers. Overall, "our industry expects to increase our sales figures by 9.1 percent," said Roy Fazio, Protocall's vice president. The company is also helping many companies find full-time workers, especially in the office/administrative field. "We are up 12 to 13 percent in fees for direct hire," Fazio said. "The higher the skill level, the greater the need to fill it." Higher-paying jobs in The Burlington-Camden-Gloucester county region is outpacing the state in generating jobs, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
In May, the figures were 1.5 percent for the tri-county region, compared with 1 percent for the rest of the state. The tri-county area is also generating higher-paying jobs.
"Professional and business services are picking up strongly," said Tim Schiller, senior economic analyst for the Fed.
"There is also a lot of construction of office buildings, and that's another view of it," he said.
On the negative side, residential building is slacking off and consumer reaction to higher fuel prices is still waiting to be felt, Schiller said.
Overall, "I think what we are going to see is slower growth in the year's second half, both locally and nationally. It looks like an orderly transition to a more subdued pace," Schiller said.
The New Jersey Business and Industry Association expects fuel prices to eventually dampen consumer confidence and business buying. For now, people are spending.
"The ability of the consumers to adjust is remarkable. If you want to drive your car or buy certain products, you just hold your breath and do it," Kirschner said. Consumers' ability to adapt is also reflected in the travel industry this summer.
"I don't think that the price of gasoline has affected the vacation level too much," said Stephanie Mensch, public affairs manager for AAA South Jersey. "It's the everyday travel that is hitting us in the pocketbook," she said. Closer to home consumers continue to travel, but they are staying closer to home, Mensch noted. "This is New Jersey, and people go to the shore," she said. On June 21, a driver in South Jersey paid $2.87 for a gallon of gasoline. This compares with $2.06 a gallon sold on the same date last year.
In residential real estate, the resale of preowned houses in South Jersey picked up during the first quarter of 2006, with 52,500 units sold, compared with 49,600 units during the final quarter in 2005. Buyer affordability continues to slip statewide, though, with a $84,672 annual family income needed to buy the median-priced home priced at $356,700. The state median income is $80,613.
For buyers in South Jersey, resale prices are much lower than the state as a whole. Also, prices are not rising at the giddy pace they once were. During the year's first quarter, the median price for a resale home was $226,100, an increase of just $100 over the final quarter of 2005.
Nationwide, demand for commercial real estate space remains healthy. The sector is not without concerns, however, including energy costs, rising interest rates and slower-than-expected job growth, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Bill Glazer, Keystone Property Group president, believes in the possibilities for commercial real estate profit in South Jersey. Keystone, of Conshohocken, Pa., purchased the Barrington Industrial Park in February, which is now 95 percent occupied, up from 30 percent. Keystone is also redeveloping 112 W. Park Drive, a 115,000-square-foot office building in East Gate, Mount Laurel.
"That will be a best-in-class asset. We are looking among the best national tenants to fill it, a company that would be a household name because that is the caliber of the building we are building," Glazer said.
"Rental rates are just starting to tighten now. Since 9/11, the market has been soft. It's taken many years to backfill that excess supply, and now it's beginning to impact on the rates," Glazer said.
Signals are "go" for more development in Atlantic City, where economic growth is resonating within the entire South Jersey economy.
By itself, the casino industry has brought aggressive development to the shore. Now the region sees new opportunities to enhance the total experience for visitors through other types of development, such as retail, golfing and fine dining.
Ripple effect
"The casino industry has an enormous ripple effect on the whole economy, including housing and malls," said Milton Leontiades, former dean of the Rutgers School of Business.
More expansion is anticipated as serious money is placed on new land tracts in Atlantic City, Leontiades said.
"Recent acquisitions by Morgan Stanley and MGM promise added impetus to a growing economy at the shore," he said. "It's a money pump for the state and particularly for that region."
Reach Jeanne Ridgway at (856) 486-2479 or jridgway@courierpostonline.com
Published: June 23. 2006 3:10AM
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