Better-paying jobs rising in US, but less so in NJ

The U.S. has seen some improvement in middle-class job creation for the kind of positions that do not involve answering phones or flipping hamburgers. But New Jersey's mid-wage job creation remains slow. 

The jobs being created are the ones in sales, construction, manufacturing and transportation, and generally pay workers nearly $800 a week or more. In fact, more than a million of the jobs created in 2014 in the private sector are paying $867 per week, on average, according to Capital Economics.

The higher pay is good news not just for workers, but also for the economy as a whole, since people tend to spend their extra money at restaurants, entertainment venues and retail shops.

The news, however, is not as positive in New Jersey.  Patrick O'Keefe, director of economic research at CohnReznick, said the state has seen some improvement in construction and professional services, but it's been at a slower pace when compared to the rest of the nation.  "Unfortunately wage growth still remains subpar."

But that could change.  "The hope is that as the pace of jobs growth accelerates, that we will finally see some spillover into wages that are being paid," O'Keefe said.

Wage increases could happen, according to O'Keefe, if more employers seek to attract better talent and look to keep the talented employees they have on staff.