Omicron is disrupting what had been a robust job market. New Jersey-based ADP reported the U.S. economy lost 301,000 jobs in January, the first report showing job losses in more than a year. Economists thought 200,000 new jobs would be added to the economy so this was a shocker. Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group, thinks this is a blip and says COVID-19 is to blame. We’ll get another report on the job market on Friday.
New Jersey businesses that are looking to provide their workers with new skills may benefit from job training grants from the state. The Department of Labor & Workforce Development is making $2 million in grants available through a job training program called UPSKILL. The funds will be awarded to employers on a competitive basis, to reimburse up to 50% of the cost of retraining current, frontline employees. Companies, community groups and faith-based groups can apply for grants up to $100,000.
There’s no letup to New Jersey’s warehouse boom. One of the latest warehouse proposals being considered is in Mercer County. A private developer wants to build nine warehouses covering 5.5 million square feet in West Windsor, which the mayor says would raise about $14 million a year for the township. But opponents argue that figure is too optimistic. The warehouse proposal was the result of a court settlement with the community after a zoning lawsuit. Learn more about the proposed development here.
New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson and three distributors of opioids have reached a settlement with hundreds of Native American tribes, to resolve claims the companies fueled an opioid epidemic. Reuters reports that Johnson & Johnson will pay more than $150 million over the next two years. Johnson & Johnson says it did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.
