The NJBIA released its 66th annual Business Outlook Survey on December 2. Although the 2025 Outlook survey’s focus was on New Jersey’s next governor, the survey had many other facets.
Today we take a deeper look at New Jersey’s economic climate data found in the 2025 Business Outlook Survey.
New Jersey’s Economic Climate
When respondents were asked about current business conditions in their industry, 34% said they were experiencing a slowdown (5 percentage points more than last year), while 15% said they were experiencing an expansion.
Eight percent said their industry was moving from a slowdown to a recovery, while 5% said they were moving from an expansion to a slowdown. A majority (38%) said business conditions in their sector remained the same.
As a location for new or expanded facilities, 28% rated New Jersey as very good or good. Another 32% described the Garden State as fair and 39% as poor.
Only 14% believe New Jersey has made progress over the past year in easing regulatory hurdles. This figure is steadily decreasing from 24% in 2017.
When asked if their company had postponed equipment installation or any expansion due to delays in obtaining a permit or regulatory process, 12% said yes.
Sixty-two percent said they invested to improve productivity in 2024.
The needle is moving in the right direction when it comes to New Jersey’s attractiveness to people in their golden years, with 46% saying they plan to keep New Jersey as their retirement home. This figure is up 14 percentage points from four years ago. and this is the highest level in a decade.