Community Corner

No Joy for NJ in New Job Numbers

'It's the worst I've ever seen,' says staffing pro

Finding jobs is her business. For more than two decades, Jill Merrell has been staffing offices with employees at nearly every position, from temporary personal assistants to the highest levels of management.

Believe her when she says there have been good times and bad times, but nothing compares to the absolute wretchedness that the New Jersey job market is currently experiencing.

Despite an optimistic outlook from federal authorities that new job creation would come in at somewhere around 124,000 last month, reality relates a much more somber truth. Only 18,000 new jobs were created last month, raising the country’s jobless rate to 9.2 percent.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“It’s bad, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” Merrell, owner of Jill Merrell and Associates, a professional staffing service based in Shrewsbury, said. “Things are desperate and nothing’s changed at all in the past three or four months. There simply are no jobs here.”

According to the latest data, New Jersey’s jobless rate just edges the national rate at 9.4 percent. Whether that data is wholly accurate is one thing, but one thing Merrell said it doesn’t take in to account is the number of residents who are underemployed, having taken jobs with less pay, benefits, and responsibilities.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In June, representatives from a then-under construction Marlboro Costco, a wholesale market, went to Monmouth County’s One-Stop Career Center looking for help in staffing their new store.

Within two weeks, more than 1,000 applications had been submitted.

Merrell said it’s indicative of the state’s struggles. The out of work are lowering their expectations and many professionals, cast out of the high-end industries they’ve worked in for years, are taking menial jobs at near-minimum wage simply because that’s the best they can do right now.

Sitting at a Starbucks in Matawan Friday morning, Joe Geronimo, an Old Bridge resident, said things are difficult for small businesses. The owner of his own importing and exporting business, the 51-year-old said he hasn’t been immune from the languishing economy having had to lay people off as things have gotten tighter over the past few months.

He put the onus on the government for turning this thing around.

“We need to put people back to work. We don’t need to raise taxes, we need to put our people back to work,” he said. “We need to put all these negotiations in congress on creating jobs. People want to go back to work and that’s going to raise revenue and boost the economy, not raising taxes.”

Local Woodbridge businessman John Vrtaric fled communist Yugoslavia when he was 15 for a new life in the United States. He started a hair salon in the township 44 years ago, a business he still owns along with a beauty supply store.

Vrtaric said he's never seen the business environment as bad as this.

"People come in to talk. They don't come in to buy. Retailing is going on the skids," Vrtaric said. "People don't have the money to spend on anything they can't justify as a necessity."

With friends and relatives still in Europe, Vrtaric said that investment capital is sitting offshore.

"People with money are waiting for the election next year. They aren't going to do anything until they see how the election turns out," he said.

Warren Larsen has owned an auto parts store in Woodbridge for decades. He's feeling the economic heat, and he's been trying to expand his repertoire to include selling on ebay and adding a line of bicycles to his auto parts inventory.

"We keep trying anything to see what will work. We're feeling the effects of the economy just like everyone else," Larsen said.

Larsen said he's love to take on more employees, but it makes no sense when there is no economic incentive for business to expand, a situation he lays at President Obama's doorstep.

"Small business is the backbone of America. We're the main creator of jobs in this country," Larsen said. "Obama's policies are a dismal failure. Blaming Bush doesn't work three years later.

After looking for a job for over a year, Gregg Cannonie said it's hard to keep trying when you know the door is going to keep getting slammed in your face.

"It's tough trying to keep your energy up when so many people are out of work, and we're all applying for the same few positions," Cannonie, a customer service rep, said. "It's especially hard when you're over 40."

Cannonie holds Obama responsible for the dearth of jobs.

"The stimulus was a failure, and now we're approaching the debt level of a bankrupt country like Greece. All that spending for nothing," he said. "The only jobs Obama created were temporary census jobs, and government jobs for his cronies. The rest of us are going to be footing the bill for it forever."

Concerns over the economy haven’t escaped local officials.

Matawan Mayor Paul Buccellato said he’s seen it in his town. Residents are struggling to pay their bills, lost jobs are affecting families all over, and, as much as the municipality can try and help, there needs to be legislation at the federal level if there’s any hope in improving things.

“This is a concern for everyone in government,” he said. “We are not moving forward in the economy. It’s hurting people, the residents of the municipalities.

“I think the federal government has to do more to help push legislation fowrd to help us with the creation of jobs.”

Admittedly, times are difficult, but there will always be some employment out there for those who fight hard enough to get it, Merrell said. Job seekers just have to be willing to put in the time and even settle for less. In this economy, that’s the best you can hope for.

“It’s an employers' market,” she said. “They know people are off work, so if you won’t take $10 someone else will. If you’re looking for a job, go directly into a company and get familiar with them on a personal basis. Take your resume and left them see who you are. If you don’t, you’ll end up sitting on someone’s desk.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here