Many of us are continuing to struggle to make ends meet, but a new report by the Spectrem Group finds the number of millionaires is rising nationally - especially here in the Garden state.

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Rutgers economist James Hughes says right now Jersey has a minimum of a 250,000 millionaire households, and the number keeps rising every day, "and largely it's due to the quality of the New Jersey employment base - which provides the income to create a millionaire- New Jerseyans also have access to the high quality jobs of New York City, so those two factors alone generate an enormous amount of wealth in the state - that flows to the households that can take advantage of it."

He says "over the past several years New Jersey has ranked second in household income - just falling slightly behind Maryland -which is bolstered by Federal government jobs…Jersey has long ranked first or second in terms of median household income… and so that lofty income position should translate into a similar ranking for household wealth."

Hughes adds the trend will continue "if the region maintains its strong job base, if financial markets stay at the level they're at or actually increase…if you're not part of that employment base- if you don't have the financial assets - then you're going to be left behind."

The report is by the Spectrem Group - which is based on surveys with 12,519 affluent investors conducted throughout 2011.

It finds 8-point-6 million households had a net worth of a million dollars or more last year, not including their primary residence.

The margin of error is 2.9 percent. The report can be purchased from Spectrem Group.  Spectrem Group is a strategic consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets, integrating proprietary research with expertise in building business, marketing and M&A strategies. Its professionals have held senior management positions at leading global companies.

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