By Michael L. Lahr, Rutgers Economic Advisory Service (R/Econ™) Here we are in mid-March of 2022 and the average price of a gallon of regular grade gasoline in New Jersey is $4.335; a year ago it was $2.925.[1] That’s nearly a 50% increase in less than a year. How and why did it come to [...]
Maia de la Calle and Michael L. Lahr, Rutgers Economic Advisory Service (R/Econ™) The New Jersey State Policy Lab started operating when some of the first local-level data were released from the 2020 Census. It, therefore, seemed somewhat natural for the Lab to produce a census-based product that likely would appeal to governments within the [...]
Michael Lahr, R/Econ™ In terms of both crude oil and natural gas production, Russia is second only to the United States worldwide. Moreover, about 8% of U.S. petroleum imports are from Russia.[1] For Europe, that share is closer to 40%.[2] So, clearly the Russia-Ukraine crisis poses a severe risk to petroleum markets. The shutdown of all [...]
by Tia Azzi and Michael Lahr, R/Econ™ The latest report from R/Econ™ examines the migration trends across counties within New Jersey between 2018 and 2019. This report uses Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, rather than that from than the U.S. Census, to report migration by county. This analysis divides New Jersey into five regions to [...]
By Michael L. Lahr, Director of Rutgers Economic Research Service (R/ECON™) What is the status of New Jersey housing markets? The bottom line has been more or less the same since June 2020: double-digit price growth prompted by low inventory and depressed interest rates. Have they peaked? That is a tougher call. For sure, the [...]
By Michael L. Lahr, R/ECON™ Housing markets are not just geographically separated, they are socially stratified too (in combination the two generate what is termed, “housing market segmentation”). Properties in a region can differ radically in price (e.g., range between $20,000 and $1,000,000 per acre). Moreover, the buyer base and housing availability for that particular [...]
Tia Azzi, R/ECON Not all bike lanes are created equal. New Jersey is trying to encourage bicycling as a main form of transportation by enhancing existing ways and expanding bike lanes. But only about 0.3% of New Jersey residents bike to work.[1] This contrasts with nationwide commuting behavior in countries like the Netherlands in which [...]
Tia Azzi For many years, New Jersey has lost population via net in- and out-migration. From 2011 through 2019, this has resulted in the state hemorrhaging a total of more than $23.6 billion in net adjusted gross income (AGI) according to U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 2021 data. While education plays a role, the migration [...]
November 30, 2021 Maia de la Calle, Rutgers Economic Advisory Service (R/ECON™) In the past few weeks, discussions on the “Great Resignation” and labor shortages have permeated news cycles. These phenomena, characterized by (1) record-high levels of voluntary resignations and (2) job openings surpassing the number of unemployed workers, are being described as major [...]
Michael L. Lahr, R/ECONTM November 15, 2021 Inflation has found its way to the front pages of newspapers for the first time in decades. From New Jersey’s perspective though, national reports of inflation are greater than those for New Jersey. From September 2020 to September 2021, core prices[1] increased by 4.0% nationwide but by just [...]
