APRIL 27, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2015, 1:20 AM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
n 3.8% rate in 2014, a drop from the previous year, was higher than all but six states
New Jersey had one of the highest rates of long-term unemployment in the nation in 2014, even as the state job market slowly improved, figures released last week showed.
The percentage of the state’s workforce out of work for 15 weeks or more in 2014 — on average, 3.8 percent — was higher than all but six states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national long-term jobless rate was 3 percent. New Jersey’s rate tumbled from an average of 5.1 percent in 2013.
Charles Steindel, former chief economist under Governor Christie and now a resident scholar at the Anisfield School of Business at Ramapo College, said the high rate of long-term unemployed reflects the sluggishness of the New Jersey economy, which has lagged behind the national revival.
“New Jersey has had a weak recovery, so it’s taking people longer to find a job,” he said.
He added that the state’s employment insurance payments are among the highest in the nation, and that may allow people to take longer to find the right job.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/n-j-struggles-with-long-term-joblessness-1.1319422
