More Abysmal News for NJ’s Economy

RE Report/Analysis

Update I

In long line of New Jersey businesses that have gone liquid or bankrupt, there are now 30 more you can add to the dole.

Here is the list of the 30 franchises that was delivered to the unfortunate New Jersey Chrysler/Jeep Dealers.

Certainly this is not good news for each town and city these dealerships are located in. It means more job loss and less economic activity, which will only prolong the mild depression the nation is already in.

Chrysler/Jeep Dealerships to close in NJ:

1. Berlin
2. Butler
3. Belle Mead
4. Cape May Court House
5. Elmer
6. Green Brook
7. Peapack
8. Orange
9. Manahawkin
10. Englewood
11. Hightstown
12. Kearny
13. Cherry Hill
14. Hamilton Square
15. Paramus
16. Runnemede
17. Marlton
18. Parsippany
19. Maple Shade
20. Shrewsbury
21. Woodbridge
22. Neptune
23. Rutherford
24. Jersey City
25. Wayne
26. Rahway
27. Tenafly
28. Trenton
29. Wyckoff
30. Westwood

On May 14, Chrysler LLC sent letters by United Parcel Service to Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers. That same day Chysler had sent an official request to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York to close about 25% of its 3,181-dealer network, 30 located in NJ.

Within the past nine months New Jersey has lost a significant amount of retail businesses. A collective of franchises, chain stores, independent merchants and big-box/department store retailers.

RE has compiled a short list of companies/businesses throughout New Jersey and in specific regional areas that have recently closed doors. Some16 major companies have either liquidated or closed up certain stores/franchises within the past week to the previous 9 months.

Chain/Company Owned Liquidations

Circuit City | Fortunoff  |  Drug fair |  Office Depot –  State Wide

Filene’s Basement |  L-N-T  |  Marty’s  –  State Wide

Chain/Company Owned Store Closings

DCH Auto Group/Saturn Stores – Eatontown, North Brunswick

InkStop –  Ledgewood, Rockaway and Wayne

Rite Aid – No. Plainfield

Ruby Tuesday – Green Brook

Jiffy Lube – Green Brook

Franchises

Stone Cold Creamery – Warren

Quiznos – Warren

Dairy Queen – The Hills of Bernards

BP/Amoco – Green Brook

Independent Businesses

Citizens Community Bank – Ridgewood

Basking in Java – Basking Ridge

Those 16 major retailers added to the 30 Chrysler Dealerships will have and had have a tremendous impact on the New Jersey economy.

There are some in Trenton who are attempting to paint a rosy picture, saying things like the downturn has peaked and we should be coming out this crisis soon.  But the reality is and will be much different. New Jersey should not expect economic recovery any time soon.

National Foreclosures Hit Record High- Yet Again.

  From Bloomberg:

May 13 — Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose to a record for the second consecutive month in April as banks increased efforts to seize homes from delinquent borrowers.

A total of 342,038 properties received a default or auction notice or were seized last month, RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, California, said today in a statement. One in 374 households got a filing, the highest monthly rate since the property data service began issuing such reports in 2005.

“What you’re seeing is the inevitable result of severe job losses,” Nicolas Retsinas, director of housing studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said in an interview. “Until we stem the job losses, we can expect to see continuing foreclosures.”

New Jersey’s Rate:

New Jersey had the 22nd highest rate, one in 695 households, and filings fell 4 percent to 5,034.

Full story here:  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYokz_rb3kbw&refer=home#

Grand-Am Racing Series- Back in Jersey

Milleville NJ,

New Jersey Motorsports Park, or Thunderbolt Raceway as it is better known by, will play host again this weekend for the second year to the Grand American Road Racing Series.

Daytona Prototypes (pictured above) and GT cars are showcased in the Grand-Am Rolex Series. The series will feature both classes on Thunderbolt’s course simultaneously. The Rolex Series features some of the top teams in motorsports, including Chip Ganassi Racing Brumos Porsche and Penske Racing.

The 700+ acre sprawling, country-club type raceway opened in 2008 and has hosted the ARCA series along with the Grand-Am Series. This season the track will add the AMA Superbike Series as well.

The $150 million world class Motorsports complex is considered one of the more premier tracks in the country. The track contains an exclusive motorsports country club known as the Drivers Club, unique trackside Villa homes and the Shade Tree Garages which are secure garage suites.

Later this year a world-class driving school will open their head quarters at NJMP. The track broke ground in 2007 and was partially designed by Harvey Siegel and legendary racer, Caroll Shelby.

The facility provides about 180 jobs for the local area and has 60 corporate partnerships for the 2009 season. The positive impact on the travel and leisure industry is a plus for the south Jersey area.  The track is expected to bring in a host of other related businesses in the near and long term future.

Garden State- Withering

 RE Report

According to RealtyTrac residential foreclosures in New Jersey jumped 1.96% during the first quarter of 2009, y-o-y and rose a colossal 40% from February 2009.

 

Q1 official auctions in NJ included 2,293 residential properties as Essex County lead the way with 296. Passaic followed with 217,  as well as Ocean- 217 and Union with 215. These were the top four counties with foreclosures during Q1.

The four top cities with foreclosures were Newark, Paterson, Elizabeth and Dover NJ. Currently NJ ranks 24th in the nation with foreclosure filings.

This latest report clearly shows that the housing  collapse continues to undermine the New Jersey economy.

State economists predict the jobless rate will continue to climb throughout the year which will render more homeowners unable to make mortgage payments and in turn face further foreclosures.

(graph courtesy of Property Shark)

The UN-avoidable, New Jersey Un-employment Report

 RE Report

Though it was a diminutive increase, the most tax burdened, liberal state in the union saw its unemployment rate go up yet again, from 8.2% to 8.3%. Reaction from the left-wing corzine administration was of course low-key.

In fact a spokesmen from the socialist administration went as far as saying that that number only represents roughly 10 percent of the workforce who are jobless and that in the overall picture- wasn’t that bad.

The continued job losses in March were recorded in eight of ten supersectors. The largest contractions occurred in leisure and hospitality (-5,900), professional and business services (-4,600), manufacturing (-3,700),  trade, transportation and utilities (-1,800).

(NJ Report/NJ DOL Graph)

Meanwhile, the average work week decreased by 0.1 hours while the average hourly salary increased by 0.22.

That same state spokesman also said that as long as NJ consumers save their money and don’t increase their discretionary spending, more people will probably lose their jobs.  It is exactly that kind of irresponsible and arrogant rhetoric that has so many residents frustrated and angry.

The blowhards in Trenton do not care what the average citizen thinks, they only care for the few wealthy constituents who contribute millions to their lying, deceptive campaigns.

The jist

The 4th wealthiest state in the nation lost another 17,200 jobs in March, up from the revised 14,500 decline in February! Although no one in Trenton really cares that much, Rutgers Economic Advisory Director, Nancy Mantell said “The extent of the state’s job loss remains very worrisome.”

Well, it should be worrisome New Jersey- it damn well should be.

NJ- Steals a Deal from the Fed’s or (more coin for the slush fund)

RE Report/Analysis

New Jersey has become the first state to qualify for federal funds to make up the serious short-fall for state-wide unemployment benefits. U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis had announced Friday that New Jersey will receive approximately $207 million dollars in federal stimulus money.

New Jersey is only one of 14 states that has had to Borrow from the federal government to pay unemployment claims. One of the most wealthiest, prosperous states in the nation HAD to borrow money from the federal government!

New Jersey began borrowing from the feds this month when the state fund ran out of money- no doubt due to the grossly mis-managed funds, the department of Labor and the Rampant Corruption in the states government. If that outrageous news weren’t enough the Obama administration actually praised New Jersey for retooling the unemployment insurance program to do things like paying benefits to part-time workers.

As a result of the fund dropping so low it has triggered an automatic tax increase on employers that will take effect this July. The corzine administration has stated that the tax increase is expected to amount to approximately $75 to $95 per worker and is designed to raise another $350 million for the unemployment insurance fund. More burden on small businesses!

So this far left-wing administration heaps PRAISE upon another far left-wing state government for their inept, criminal behaviour! The audacity of the Obama administration is vile and disgusting as the smug, self-serving NJ governor and his a** clown cohorts keep smiling all the while-  slamming the hard working citizens of New Jersey.

New Jersey residents should be OUTRAGED. But instead I suspect they will shrug their shoulders as usual and say- “what are you going to do?” Well, for one, stop voting party lines and electing criminals, start by doing that, eh? Governor corzine is proving to be one of the worst governors in the states history, plunging New Jersey into its largest ever debt and raising taxes to unprecedented levels.

The states tax burden is number one in the nation, as it continues to weigh heavily on the majority of residents. Job losses are staggering and still rising, retail sales are flat-lined and will keep declining while key retailers are folding. L-N-T, Fortunoff, Drug Fair, Circuit City as well as many small shops and owner operated services closing their doors. The picture is very bleak and it’s only going to worsen. So New Jersey, what are you going to do about it? Unfortunately, I suspect…not much.

NJ Jobs- Going…Going…Gone…

RE Report/Analysis

More bad news for the Garden State

New Jersey’s jobless rate rose for the 13th straight month- hitting 8.2 percent in February, up almost a full point above the previous 7.3 percent in January. The most recent data was released today by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

This is the first time since 2006 that New Jersey has eclipsed The U.S. unemployment rate, which was 8.1 percent in February. The Garden State has typically kept their jobless rate just below the national level.

The DOL & WD stated that nonfarm wage and salary employment decreased by 19,700 jobs in February to a total of 3,968,100. The state lost a total of 30,000 jobs in January and February combined.

State Labor Commissioner David J. Socolow said, “The troubled national economy continues to pose difficulties for many states, including New Jersey. Through our unemployment insurance and work force development programs, we are doing all that we can to assist workers who have lost their jobs.”

Our Take

The rising unemployment for the state, outrageous and unfair property taxes (that are consequently forcing out thousands of residents), huge budget gaps and rampant government corruption on all levels- only adds to the impending disaster that awaits New Jersey’s economic meltdown. Buckle up kids…it’s going to be one *&#*%*# bumpy ride.

Central New Jersey Office Market Still Strong

RealtyEconomics | May 18, 2008

While the national real estate market, both residential and commercial have drastically slowed, New Jersey is one of a few states that have bucked the trend of major declines and a severe fall off of demand. Yes, the Garden State has seen a slight slow-down in the residential and commercial markets, but many pockets of the state have actually been thriving and continues to grow, albeit slowly into 2008. Somerset County in particular on both sides, commercial and residential have remained fairly strong. On the residential side, Somerset has only slid approximately 2.0% from 2007. In stark contrast to the rest of the country, New Jersey was one of only three states where the volume of existing home sales actually rose in the first quarter compared with the previous year.

Over in the central commercial office market sector Class-A office space is in demand, specifically the I-78/Somerset sub-market. The Somerset/I-78 office submarket has a total of 262 Class A and B buildings with a total of 24.8 million square feet of space. This submarket includes the area surrounding the intersection of I-287 and I-78. The majority of the space is located in Basking Ridge, Bridgewater and Murray Hill. This submarket has 16.4 million square feet of Class A space and is home to major corporations such as at&t, Avaya, Chubb Group, Verizon, Pharmacia, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck, Alcatel-Lucent and Johnson & Johnson.

The vacancy rate for Class A and B space showed signs of improvement through the first three quarters of 2007. Starting the year at 12.4%, the rate dropped 2.2% to 10.2% by the third quarter. However, the vacancy rate rose in the fourth quarter, ending the year at 11.9%. The vacancy rate for Class A space was 14.6% in the fourth quarter of 2007. This rate also trended downward the first three quarters of the year before rising in the final quarter of 2007. In the first quarter of 2007 the Class A vacancy rate was approximately 15.7% and finally dropped to 12.6% in the third quarter.

Despite the recent uptick in the vacancy rate, the mean asking leasing rate for Class A and B properties increased in the fourth quarter of 2007. The rate has been inching up steadily since the first quarter of 2006 when the lease rate stood at $27.01 per square foot. The rate began 2007 at $27.57 and ended the year at $27.91. The average asking lease rate for Class A space was $28.65 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2007. This rate has also been increasing steadily since the start of 2006 when the leasing rate was $27.87. The analysis and data just reinforces the current demand, and desirability of the area, which appears like it will continue well into 2008.