Garden Staters Didn’t See Their Wallets Swell in 2015

On Mar 28, 2016

There’s little optimism among Garden Staters in regard to their personal finances, with only a quarter who believe the coming year will bring about an improvement in their bottom line, and a full fifth who say their personal finances worsened in the previous year. The most recent statewide survey of New Jersey residents from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind paints a sour portrait of consumer confidence.

The numbers from last year to this year are largely unchanged, with 54 percent who believe their finances will neither improve nor worsen in the coming year, and 62 percent who say the same when they reflect on how things have gone over the previous 12 months. More in 2015 (26 percent) said things had worsened for them personally as compared to what respondents say today (20 percent).

“The status quo prevails. Holding your own is certainly preferable to losing ground, but who wouldn’t want to see more people expressing optimism for the future, especially if it’s a continuation of good fortune the previous year,” said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and Director of PublicMind.

Millennials are comparatively upbeat. Forty-four percent say they expect things to improve in the coming year, and a third (32 percent) say the last year was good to their bottom line.

“This is some good news for the state, as it suggests there’s hope for a new generation of residents to remain in the state in their post-college, post-teenage years, rather than flee to other parts of the country where there’s a perception of greener pastures,” said Jenkins.

There’s been some change since last year in Garden State perceptions of the business climate. In 2015, a fifth (21 percent) said business conditions had improved in the previous year, while today that number is 16 percent. And looking ahead, almost a third (31 percent) said they expected the business climate to improve in the coming year, but today that number is closer to a quarter (23 percent). A plurality believe businesses have faced similar conditions over the previous year (42 percent), and a majority (52 percent) say things will likely stay the same in the coming year.

The state’s declining unemployment rate is reflected in what people said concerning their experiences with those out of work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics pegs the state’s unemployment rate at 4.5 percent. A year ago, it was 6.2 percent. When asked if they or anyone they know lost a job in the past year, 40 percent of respondents said yes, whereas a year ago that same question yielded a 49 percent response in the “yes” category.

“There’s still a lot of people out there looking for work. After all, four-in-ten have a personal connection to a recent job loss. But, it is good news that the official number is dropping and fewer people today than last year were up close and personal to a layoff,” said Jenkins.

Methodology – The Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind survey was conducted by landline and cellular telephone February 24-28, 2016 among a random statewide sample of 811 self-identified registered voters. Results have a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.7 points, including the design effect.

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