NJ Business Leaders Feeling Optimistic

Garden State CEOs think things have gotten better in New Jersey and they expect the trend to continue. The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers has released its 2013 C-Suite survey today. Against the backdrop of a still-struggling economy, business leaders still think the state is making improvements.

Sixty-eight percent of the CEOs surveyed think the current state of the New Jersey economy is only fair or good.

Just 16 percent say it’s good to excellent, but taken in the context of recent history, that 16 percent is actually very positive news.

“This is the best rating of the current state of the economy that we’ve had since we started conducting the C-Suite survey,” explains James Hughes, the dean at Bloustein.

Four-in-10 respondents say the economy is better today than it was a year ago. In 2009, just 19 percent felt that way. Today, just 13 percent feel the economy has gotten worse over the last twelve months. Fifty-four percent thought that in 2009.

Looking ahead 49 percent predict New Jersey’s economy will improve over the next 12  months. One-in-10 feel it will get worse. In 2009, 28 percent thought the economy would get worse.