New Jersey has shed more than 29,000 public jobs during Gov. Chris Christie's first 19 months in office
A crowd of state union workers gather outside the Statehouse Annex in protest of the public employee pension and healthcare benefits bill in this June file photo. A Star-Ledger analysis shows that N.J. currently employs the lowest number of public workers in eight years.TRENTON — With a flood of retirements, the sluggish economy and a governor intent on shrinking the size of government, the number of public workers in New Jersey has dropped to its lowest level in eight years, a Star-Ledger analysis shows.
New Jersey shed about 29,100 state and local government jobs during Gov. Chris Christie’s first 19 months in office, trailing only New York and California in the total number of public sector jobs lost, according to federal labor statistics.
The latest figures, released earlier this month, show the state has fewer public employees — from police and teachers to college administrators and state workers — on the payrolls than at any other point since September 2003.
In fact, New Jersey’s sizable decline accounts for more than 8 percent of the 357,100 public sector jobs lost in states across the country since January 2010, the month Christie took office.
The loss of public sector jobs comes as New Jersey’s post-recession economy continues to struggle, translating into a 9.5 unemployment rate that is 13th highest in the nation.
In recent months, Christie has recast the unemployment rate — a critical yardstick for governors — saying it’s more a measure of his success than his failures. He said the stubbornly high jobless figure is an unavoidable consequence of his mission to shrink the size of government in New Jersey.
"The fact is we added nearly 50,000 new private sector jobs and at the same time doing exactly what I promised to do which was to lower the number of public sector jobs," Christie said in interview earlier this month. "That’s the way you get the economy back. It’s not through government spending, it’s through the private sector."
But economists and critics argue that Christie’s outlook ignores how the loss of so many jobs, regardless of their origin, threatens the state’s broader economy.
"These are people who no longer have a pay check, who are not buying things, it creates a ripple effect," said Jon Shure, director of state fiscal strategies at Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank in Washington. "You’re not just laying off a worker, you’re laying off the clerk at the grocery store where they shop."
In January 2010, there were 590,200 employees on public payrolls in New Jersey. But that has dropped by more than 5 percent, the fifth highest percentage decline in the nation, the analysis shows.
In the same time period, the total number of jobs in New Jersey — accounting for gains in the private sector and losses in public jobs — rose by 20,300. That ranks New Jersey behind 38 other states in percentage of job growth.
Christie’s critics say he may have been successful at shrinking government, but he has failed to expand the economy and provide new employment opportunities.
"We accept the cost of government was too high," said Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), an investment consultant and a member of the Assembly Budget Committee. "But to take credit for people’s unemployment without creating a meaningful job where they can go to suggests that he’s only won half the battle."
In downgrading New Jersey’s credit rating earlier this month, analysts at Fitch Ratings cited the state’s weak job numbers and said they expect the state to "lag the nation in recovering from the recent recession."
Christie and administration officials expect the unemployment rate to drop as the public sector job losses slow and are offset by anticipated growth in the private sector.
The state’s chief economist, Charles Steindel, said New Jersey has seen six straight months of private sector job growth, significantly outpacing the declines in the public sector for the first time since 2008.
Treasurer Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff noted Christie was elected a year before most governors and has a head start on those now in their first year in office. "We are going to see other states continue this process, and, on a comparative basis, New Jersey will look better by the end of the year and into next year," he said.
Since becoming governor, Christie has placed stringent property tax caps at the local level and cut state aid to school districts, municipalities and colleges, which together prompted scores of layoffs and unfilled vacancies. He also enacted health and pension reform, which helped push nearly 40,000 public workers into retirement, the highest figure in at least a decade. Many who retired were not replaced.
"These policies were aimed at restoring fiscal sanity to the biggest areas of government spending," said Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts. "They also had the effect of inducing retirements and forcing choices to be made at the local level. What cannot be ignored, and a point we’ve made often, is that those choices still had to be made at the local level."
Shure said Christie, like other governors, misdiagnosed the state’s financial problems as exclusively spending-related when the real culprit is the historic economic downturn and increased demand for government services. He said too many states, including New Jersey, have refused to consider revenue increases to help stabilize the economy. "At some point belt tightening becomes a noose," said Shure.
The analysis found the largest job decline came at the local level, including towns and schools with big state aid cuts.
When Christie took office, there were 438,300 local government workers. As of July, that figure has dropped by 18,200, resulting in the fewest number of local workers since December 2003. Only six states had a higher percentage decline in local government workers during the same period, the analysis shows.
The analysis also shows there are 10,900 fewer state workers — including employees at state colleges and universities — than when Christie took office, Only two other states saw higher percentage declines during the same time period.
Gov. Chris Christie in this August file photo. As governor he led the overhaul of pension and healthcare reform for public employees in the state."In previous times, the decline in public sector jobs hit administration, but these last two years we are seeing a dramatic dip in police, fire and EMS employees because the state aid was cut," said William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities.
Police and firefighters across the state have reacted with anger, framing the issue as a matter of public safety. "Our members are being asked to do their job without the manpower necessary to get things done. And at any given time, we can go to work and not come home," said Dominick Marino, president of the International Association of Firefighters of New Jersey.
The city of Trenton is preparing to lay off 108 officers, which union officials there say would put staffing at 1930s levels.
"What the numbers remind us of is there is no such thing as a free budget cut. A job is a job is a job," said Joel L. Naroff, president and chief economist with Pennsylvania-based Naroff Economic Advisors Inc. "But the short-term pain must be considered alongside the long-term benefits of reduced government spending on wages and benefits, which frees up money for economic investment."