N.J. economy may take years to recover

Job growth in New Jersey is expected to be slow for several more years.

Employment in the Garden State is higher than last year and output is up, but the economic recovery is just creeping along, said Nancy Mantell, director of Rutgers Economic Advisory Service.

“I really see almost no job growth in government, state and local. That’s something that just isn’t going to come back anytime soon,” Mantell said. “The private sector is the only place we’re looking for any growth at all and it’s slow.”

While New Jersey has taken steps to improve its business climate, much of the state’s rebound depends on what happens with the national economy, according to Joe Seneca, an economist with Rutgers University.

Seneca said it will take at least another five years for employment in the state to return to its 2007 peak.