FDU Poll: Most in NJ Feel Worse Off Than a Year Ago

Almost half of New Jersey residents say they're worse off financially than they were a year ago, according to a new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University's Silberman College of Business.

And that's an improvement over how Garden State residents polled in 2010 felt, FDU reports. When residents were asked the same question then—as to how they felt compared to 2009—54 percent said they were worse off financially.

A quarter of New Jersey residents polled this year said they're better off financially than they were a year ago. That figure is up 7 points from 2010.

As a complement to the poll, Patch asked people throughout New Jersey how they're doing, and captured their answers on video. That video is connected to this post.

While the results show residents feeling their situations are improving across every income bracket, only in the highest bracket do those who say they are better off outweigh those who say they’re worse off, FDU reports. Two in five (40 percent) of those with household incomes greater than $150,000 say they’re better off, while just one in four (26 percent) in that income bracket say they’re worse off.

In the lowest bracket, those earning under $50,000 a year, 23 percent say they’re better off financially than a year ago, a gain of 8 percentage points over last year. More than half, 55 percent, say they’re worse off, a decline of 7 points from a year ago.

“It’s the norm that those with the most income emerge from a recession first and most everyone trails them,” Sorin Tuluca, professor of finance at the Silberman College of Business, said.

While fewer of the polled Garden Staters say they’re worse off and more say they are better off, their optimism is consistent: 46 percent say their financial well-being in the next 12 months will improve, compared to just 27 percent who think they will be worse off by year’s end. In the survey a year ago, 48 percent thought that they would be better off by the start of 2011 and 23 percent thought that they would be worse off.

“A year ago New Jerseyans were quite optimistic as they had the feeling that the worst was over,” Tuluca said. “The reality is that the worst is over but the road ahead will continue to be a steep climb.”

Similarly, while only one in four polled (25 percent) say business conditions in the state have improved since a year ago, that is an increase of 12 points over a year ago. And while a majority (56 percent) say business conditions are worse, that is an improvement from 71 percent a year ago.

Looking to the future, polled New Jerseyans are bullish about prospects for business in the state: 54 percent say that business conditions will improve in the next 12 months while half that, 26 percent, say business will be worse off. But reflecting a stubborn unemployment percentage at the national and state level, 65 percent of New Jerseyans still report that either they, people in their families or close friends have lost jobs, essentially unchanged from 67 percent one year ago.

“Unemployment certainly leaves a scar when it’s you or a friend, yet as a statistic it lags behind other indicators. Even a little improvement in unemployment is good news. The upward trend is just not as quick as we would like, and many jobs will never come back," Tuluca said.

Other notable results of the survey:

• 30 percent continue to be “somewhat worried” or “very worried” that they might lose their jobs this coming year.
• 35 percent say it is “somewhat” or “very difficult” to make payments on their credit cards, up from  33 percent a year ago, 31 percent two years ago, and 25 percent three years ago.
• Given a windfall of $1,000, 36 percent would save it, 12 percent would spend it, 45 percent would pay their bills and 4 percent would give it to charity.  A majority (56 percent) of those making less than $50,000 would use it to pay bills. A majority (51 percent) of those making over $150,000 would save it.
• 49 percent said they think housing prices will rise in 2011, a decline from 56 percent a year ago, while 30 percent say prices will decline further, up from 26 percent last year.

FDU also reports consumers spent more over the last year than they expected to when asked a year ago, suggesting many felt more secure than they anticipated.

“Consumers hope that all this is going to be over quickly,” Tuluca said. “Unfortunately that won’t be the case. The economy will take a while to heal.”

The telephone survey of 809 randomly selected adults throughout New Jersey who participate in their households' financial decisions was sponsored by the Silberman College of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University. It was conducted by the school's PublicMind center from Jan. 3 through Jan. 9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

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