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 and affordability, the survey had many other facets.
Today we take a deeper look at New Jersey profit and wage data found in the 2025 Business Outlook Survey.
Benefits
From 2012 to 2019, more New Jersey businesses reported more gains than losses in this survey.
Everything changed during the pandemic year of 2020 and the climb from this hole continues.
In 2024, only 32% of respondents reported profits for the year, 4% less than in 2022. At the same time, 45% reported a loss.
This continues to be one of the main reasons the NJBIA uses a mantra to legislators in Trenton that “every dollar counts” when briefing on policy.
The outlook for corporate profits is a little better than a year ago. In 2025, 40% believe they will make a profit, compared to 25% who anticipate losing money. This 15% net positive is certainly not a historically strong number in this survey, but it is better than the 9% net positive outlook for 2024..
Of the 40% who expect to be positive in 2025, 14% expect profits of only 1 to 3%.
Wages
Despite business challenges, New Jersey employers continue to attempt to raise wages.
In total, 77% increase in salaries in 2024.
Looking ahead to 2025, 16% say they will increase salaries by more than 5%.
37% said they would increase salaries between 3% and 4.9% in 2024. In total, 74% said they would increase salaries in 2025, while 24% expect no change in salaries.