The jobless rate is at a record low of 3.6%, but consumer prices are up 9.1% as of June 2022. Are we officially in a recession? That depends on who you ask. “It suggests, overall, the economy is weakening, it’s certainly losing steam, where there are storm clouds not...
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In the News
NJ Government Records has Nearly Two-year backlog
Bloustein Professor and Local Govt. Research Center Assistant Director Marc Pfeiffer weighs in on the nearly two year backlog at https://nj.gov/grc/. “The law was written with an appreciation for the technology at the time, for the procedures at the time,” Pfeiffer...
N.J. is increasing diversity.
New Jersey is one of the most diverse states in the nation, and year after year it has only gotten more so. “The suburbs are far more diverse today than they were 25 years ago,” said James Hughes, a professor and a former dean of Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School of...
Rutgers touts success of program for long-term unemployed in NJ
Emerging from the rubble of the Great Recession, the establishment of the New Start Career Network in 2015 provided support to more than 6,000 New Jerseyans experiencing long-term unemployment over its initial six-year period. That's according to Carl Van Horn,...
Von Hagen, Meehan, and Younes’ Micromobility Pop-up Bike Lane mentioned in Smart Cities Dive
Voorhees Transportation Center staff Leigh Ann Von Hagen, Sean Meehan, and Hannah Younes led a Spring 2022 studio to encourage micromobility use in Asbury Park, NJ by improving user safety and comfort. Smart Cities Dive featured the pop-up bike lane project, its...
Hughes Speaks to the State of the U.S. Economy, Influence on Voters’ Sentiments
Economic sentiment plays a pivotal role in how Americans make their electoral choices and is one of many factors that could influence how voters cast their ballots in the 2022 midterm elections. On July 15, the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Press Center hosted a...
Is the economic outlook for New Jersey as bad as we think?
What’s in store for the New Jersey economy for the rest of this year? It turns out nobody is quite sure because right now there’s a hodgepodge of different economic signals. Rutgers University economist James Hughes said as is often the case, “we have really...
Economists question lawmakers’ plans to address inflation
As consumers nationwide grapple with increases in the cost of rent, gas, and groceries, New Jersey lawmakers have offered a slew of plans they say will address skyrocketing inflation. Sales tax holidays on certain items, moratoriums on toll increases, and a revamp of...
Should Holmdel voters dump parties and elect the mayor? They decide next week
According to Julia Sass Rubin, professor of public policy at Rutgers University, who gave a presentation to the commission, candidates on the “county line,” which is the column for candidates endorsed by the local Democratic or Republican party committees, have an...
Routine Traffic Stops Too Often Turn Deadly, And Jayland Walker Is The Latest Victim
Police experts are still looking for ways to circumvent deadly chases and fatal traffic stops. One way, according to Kelcie Ralph, a transportation scholar at Rutgers University, are traffic cameras. Traffic stops are the most common interactions between police and...