The economy continues to recover on the heels of the Great Recession. As more and more companies continue to get back on their proverbial feet, a new survey by the National Association for Business Economics finds that 43 percent of economists polled said their firms have increased wages in the last three months.

money
(StockByte, ThinkStock)
loading...

That is up from last year, when only 19 percent were reporting wage gains. New Jersey is right in line with the national trend.

While pay increases are individual and based on particular fields of work, even if wages are not increasing in a particular company, many businesses agree that the times of cutting wages are likely over. No one reported pay cuts at their firm, while 57 percent said wages were flat.

"When we polled our members back in September about their outlook for 2014, more than half of them said they would be raising wages for their employees and that is nearly double what it was during the recession," said David Brogan, first vice president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. "I think raises are based on demand and the business cycle.  But, we like to focus on the impact on New Jersey as a whole and that includes making sure that taxes don't go up, the cost to businesses don't go up and that there's not a lot of government intrusion or unnecessary burdensome regulations."

The key is to instill confidence in the business community, according to Brogan.

"Optimism is growing in New Jersey. I think the governor has done a good job at instilling confidence in the business community and when you do that, that's when wages go up, capital investment goes up and businesses start to grow," Brogan said. "Confidence breeds optimism. Optimism breeds the ability for business owners to invest in their businesses and that's going to lead to increased growth and productivity."

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM