Is the super strong job market cooling? In New Jersey, some companies are no longer hiring aggressively. That’s what Michael Affuso, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Bankers Association, says banks are hearing that from their customers. “You’re seeing a slowdown in hiring. Positions that might be advertised are not necessarily being filled at the pace that they were being filled in the past,” said Affuso. “I think there’s just a moment of caution that’s being exercised by both bankers and their own staffing, as well as business and their staffing.” The monthly jobs report due out on Friday is expected to show companies are still adding new jobs, but not at the pace they did before.
Hundreds of additional jobs could be created in New Jersey’s growing wind-energy sector. Atlantic Power Transmission and Morrison Energy Wednesday announced plans to invest in the state’s workforce by training workers for jobs at a new manufacturing facility. The facility would build what are known as jacket foundations, structures that support offshore-wind substations. The manufacturing project, the first for the East Coast, would move forward if Atlantic Power is awarded its bid to be an offshore-wind transmission provider.
The financial challenges continue for the American Dream mall. It has skipped another payment; this time it’s an $8.8 million interest payment to its bondholders due on Aug. 1. In a regulatory filing Triple Five, operator and developer of the mall, cited insufficient funds as the reason. A mall spokesperson told NJ Advance Media that American Dream is under no financial obligation to make payments to bondholders.
