Credit: (NJ Spotlight News)

Citing low unemployment and other promising job metrics, New Jersey’s labor commissioner told lawmakers Wednesday that a rising minimum wage and other strong worker protections are contributing to economic growth.  

New Jersey has recovered all of the jobs lost at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the state unemployment rate of 3.5% is also back at pre-pandemic levels, Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo told the Assembly Budget Committee during a public meeting in Trenton. 

Last month, the state’s labor participation rate — another key economic metric — was as high as it’s been in roughly a decade, Asaro-Angelo said. 

“We now have more people working — and more employers — than at any point in our history,” he said. “Strong worker benefits and protections are not a detriment to employment, as naysayers often claim.” 

“Quite the opposite,” Asaro-Angelo said.  

Monday’s hearing came as lawmakers continue to review the $53.1 billion budget plan Gov. Phil Murphy put forward in late February for the fiscal year that begins July 1.  

Much of the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s annual budget is funded by federal resources, so issues related to the state economy and jobs were among the key subjects of discussion during Wednesday’s lengthy meeting with the commissioner and his staff.   

New labor laws under Murphy 

More than 100 new labor laws have been enacted since Murphy, a Democrat, took office in early 2018, Asaro-Angelo told members of the committee during his opening statement. They include laws improving paid leave and family leave policies, he said.  

A 2019 law also set in motion a multiyear phase-up to a $15 minimum hourly wage in New Jersey. As of Jan. 1, the minimum wage for many hourly workers in the state increased to $14.13. It is scheduled to hit $15 at the start of 2024. 

Nearly $10 million has been spent on modernizing the state unemployment system, including to improve the user experience, according to budget documents. 

“Thanks to these proactive measures, our state is not only stronger, it’s fairer, too,” Asaro-Angelo said.  

Among other topics, he detailed ways the administration has sought to improve the development of the state’s workforce, including through apprenticeship programs. 

“Apprenticeship has been one of our greatest tools for developing our workforce in the areas we need it most,” he said.  

During a question-and-answer portion of the meeting, some Republican lawmakers raised concerns about New Jersey’s perennial poor showing on many annual rankings of state business climates, such as those compiled by the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation.  

Business concerns 

Last year, a member survey conducted by the NJBIA (New Jersey Business & Industry Association) also echoed long-standing concerns among business owners about high taxes, regulatory obstacles and a generally elevated cost of doing business in New Jersey compared to other states. 

Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth) noted New Jersey businesses are also once again facing a payroll tax hike, in July. That comes under a state statute related to the unemployment trust fund; the tax hike will bring in revenue needed to restore a fund balance that is still recovering from the huge demand for benefits that occurred during the worst months of the pandemic when joblessness surged to record levels in New Jersey.   

Scharfenberger faulted the Murphy administration for not requesting to use some of New Jersey’s federal pandemic aid to replenish the fund so businesses could be saved from having to cover such payroll tax hikes.  

“The state has a lot of great attributes, but business-friendliness is not one of them, certainly,” Scharfenberger said. 

Asaro-Angelo pushes back 

In response, Asaro-Angelo cited the state statute that calls for the payroll taxes to restore the unemployment fund and said he’s not a participant in negotiations between the governor and lawmakers about potential uses for New Jersey’s federal aid. 

Asaro-Angelo also said if the purpose of maintaining a good business climate is to have a healthy base of businesses and employees, New Jersey has both, despite its poor showing in some state-by-state rankings.  

“There’s some kind of disconnect there,” he said. “If the end goal is to have more businesses, and more workers, then we should be at the top of the list for business-friendliness.” 

At another point in the hearing, Asaro-Angelo detailed ways his department is working to improve its customer service, including interactions with those seeking unemployment benefits.  

That was a key concern during the worst months of the pandemic when unemployment-benefit claims soared, putting a strain on the department’s outdated technology and underlining other shortcomings.  

Nearly $10 million has so far been spent on modernizing the state unemployment system itself, including to improve the user experience, according to budget documents posted online by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services.  

Among other changes, letter and email communications have been updated to “remove government jargon” and foreign-language translations are also being emphasized and improved, Asaro-Angelo said. 

“These efforts are part of a larger plan to decrease wait times and give customers easy access to their claims, which is one of the biggest complaints we’ve heard … that workers don’t know what’s going on with their claim or what to do next,” he said.