City banks on construction projects to boost job growth

In the midst of the economic recession, city officials are hoping that initiatives toward various construction projects will help revive New Brunswick.
New Brunswick City Spokesman Bill Bray said because of efforts like the Gateway Project, the city is expecting a decent amount of job growth in the coming years.
“A lot of what the city has done, the construction over the past two decades, has brought jobs to New Brunswick,” Bray said. “These jobs are being filled by the New Brunswick residents.”
Bray said several businesses opening downtown, like Chipotle, and more job opportunities in healthcare and retail are also moving the city forward despite the economy.
He said connections with the University are also helpful.
“All of that activity and interconnectivity is helping New Brunswick and New Brunswick residents,” Bray said.
While the unemployment rate in the state and nation as a whole is fluctuating, New Brunswick’s unemployment rate is dropping.
The city’s unemployment rate is down for the third straight month. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site, the unemployment rate was 9 percent in June. It then dropped to 8.8 percent in July, 8.4 percent in August and is at 8.3 percent as of September.
This is lower than the state average, which is projected at 9.6 percent as of September, according to the site.
But one University professor does not think this number is accurate.
Many factors, such as immigrant workers, are not projected in this number, said Professor Norman Glickman of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Any immigrant workers who are hired for low-wage jobs will not be depicted in the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s data, but these numbers are growing.
“There are a lot of unconventional ways to look at it,” he said. “The numbers of [immigrant] workers has increased a lot. That’s a good measure of [a] low-wage market.”
Glickman said while construction of the Gateway Project might help increase job growth, the city has to realize there is not much they can do locally because this is a national problem.
“We have to be realistic on what the city can do. We’re facing a tough battle,” he said. “I think the city is doing a great job in terms of the Gateway Project, but it’s a tough road to hoe. There’s relatively little they can do.”
Glickman said while the unemployment rate in New Brunswick is dropping slowly, he still believes it will get worse before it gets better, just like the rest of the country.
“All of this is happening in the midst of [the first] recession in over 70 years,” he said.
Glickman said the stimulus package is also something that should be helping the economy and unemployment rates in the coming years, but it cannot be solely relied on.
School of Arts and Sciences senior Cody Martin said while the unemployment rate in New Brunswick is dropping, he does not think this affects students at the University, because many of them will probably move after they graduate.
“The effect isn’t felt by the student body,” Martin said. “I would have no idea [about New Brunswick’s economy]. I’m just here on the campus.”
School of Arts and Sciences senior Puja Singh said she is not sure whether the unemployment statistics include students, who usually are new to the job market.
“I just can’t imagine how hard it is for new people entering the job market,” Singh said. “I mean, even getting an internship is hard.”
She said these rates probably reflect mostly workers who have lost their jobs, and if people in New Brunswick are not losing their jobs as much, the unemployment rate goes down.
Glickman said in the meantime, the city and students should look at what the larger employers like the University and Johnson & Johnson are doing, before relying on data.
Major budget cuts happening in these institutions will greatly impact the city and the state.
“We have to keep that in mind,” Glickman said. “That’s a little cold water in our faces.”
 

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