Garden State Initiative on Thursday analyzed New Jersey’s latest Gross Domestic Product data from the Commerce Department‘s Bureau of Economic Analysis and found the latest figures to be “quite disappointing.”
The state’s GDP, a measure of the aggregate output of all goods and services produced within the state, grew a “meager” 0.7% annually in the second quarter of 2019, GSI said.
New Jersey’s growth was ranked almost last at No. 48 out of all 50 states; only Maine and Hawaii were lower.
In the region, New Jersey ranked behind New York (1.7%), Pennsylvania (1.7%) and Delaware (1.8%), whose economies grew at more than double the rate of New Jersey’s. The only nearby state with second quarter growth in line with New Jersey was Connecticut (1%).
The weakness of the second quarter is a continued trend, GSI said.
Over the last four quarters, New Jersey’s economy has only grown 1.3%, ranking it 37th.
The output of all the major industrial sectors in the state was also deficient in the second quarter, including mining, oil and gas production; wholesale trade; transportation and warehousing; and information and finance. The sectors that showed strength included professional services, corporate management and administrative support.
