The Top Industries to Thank for New Jersey’s Economy Bounce-Back
Continually investing in its top-grossing industries, New Jersey strives to expand its economy, as well as carry on their pioneering history. With an aspiring percentage of the highly educated workforce, industries such as retail trade, life sciences, transportation, manufacturing industry, leisure & hospitality, and the healthcare industry have been a driving force to accomplish that goal.
As one of the first states hit by the pandemic, and with a high number of casualties, their further achievements were temporarily halted. Restrictions took longer to be lifted as well, prolonging the economic stagnation in the meantime. However, thanks to their inventiveness, the Garden State managed to make a recovery.
Their growth rate (4.9%) was slightly behind the national average in 2021, positioning the state in 29th place. Although there are industries, like manufacturing, that relatively quickly found their footing during the recovery period, others, like leisure & hospitality, are still struggling, especially where face-to-face interactions are required. On a positive note, of more than 700,000 lost jobs, around 60% have been recovered, which is above the national recovery level.
Health Care Sector
In 2020, this sector added more than $44 billion to the state’s Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reflecting approximately 8.2% of the total. The pandemic caused more than 100,000 temporarily lost jobs in the healthcare industry, mostly due to closures and the cut-back of service, such as ambulatory care and dental services.
For 2020, almost $30.3 billion were earned in wages, which would make it 12.8% of all private sector in the Garden State.
Manufacturing
Despite suffering losses at the start of COVID-19, manufacturing bounced back relatively quickly, regaining roughly two-thirds of the lost jobs. In 2020, the industry added $54 billion to the state’s Real GDP and paid above $20 billion in wages or 8.6% of the total wages.
Transportation, distribution and logistics
Investing in infrastructure has been a great contributor to New Jersey’s economy, and even though there have been some setbacks due to COVID-19, the sector continues to be a driving force, bringing $62.5 billion to the state’s Real GDP in 2020.
With 401,000 jobs, the sector encompassed about 12.5% of the state’s private-sector workers or 9.5% on the national level.
Life Sciences
New Jersey has a highly successful life sciences sector, with many big company names that excel in the fields of biopharmaceutical, medical technology, biotechnology, research institutes and diagnostics. In fact, the highest concentration of scientists and engineers is in New Jersey. In 2020, this industry combined $14.1 billion in paid wages, which is 6% of New Jersey’s total workforce earnings.
Retail Trade
With an impressive 405,800 jobs in 2020, the retail trade sector reached a 12.7% employment rate in the entire state and $16.2 billion in paid wages for the private sector.
Leisure and Hospitality Industry
In 2019, before COVID-19 had its devastating effect on New Jersey’s economy, this sector covered approximately 404,000 jobs in the private sector or 9% of the state’s workforce. During COVID-19 restrictions and businesses moving their operations online, many were left with no option but to close down their establishments. The unemployment in this industry took over 28% of all lost jobs in the state.
Travel restrictions, cancellations and low demand, in general, proved to be even more damaging to reopened hotels, casinos, restaurants and other businesses in this industry. All in all, leisure and hospitality suffered the most, and they will need more time to recuperate and continue on the development course.
While they were struggling to regain what was lost, internet-based companies thrived. As the first state that legalised online gambling in the US, New Jersey has since then continued to expand this successful venture. Moreover, with that many casino sites in New Jersey the news may not come as a shock, as the online gaming industry has been bringing in record earnings two years in a row and been a factor for the state’s economy recovery.
When New York launched online sports betting in January this year, there were expectations it would affect the New Jersey market. To this point, it didn’t happen. On the contrary, New Jersey hit a new record with $1.35 billion in placed wagers with $381.7 million in revenue just in January.
