In the second quarter of 2023, New Jersey’s real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.3% to $652.3 billion, according to data released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Real GDP is an inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all the goods and services produced by an economy. Viewed on a state-by-state basis, real GDP increased in 44 states, including New Jersey between Q1 and Q2 of 2023.
The percent change ranged from +8.7% in Wyoming to -1.9% in Vermont. The percent change in New Jersey of +2.3% for was slightly above the +2.1% national average.
However, the news for New Jersey was not all good. The BEA also revised downward the Garden State’s preliminary real GDP figure for Q1 2023, from the previously published +1.0% to -1.6%.
“This is only the second quarter of economic contraction that New Jersey has experienced since the initial shocks of the pandemic in 2020, with the other coming in Q1 of 2022,” said Kyle Sullender, Director of Economic Policy Research at NJBIA. “While the recovery apparent in the preliminary Q2 figures is reassuring, the poor Q1 performance is a reminder of the uncertainty we face heading into 2024 and as we await Q3 estimates later this month.”
The leading contributors to New Jersey’s Q1 decline were slowdowns in nondurable goods manufacturing; professional, scientific and technical services; and wholesale trade. Each industry contributed negatively to the state’s GDP growth in Q1 but rebounded in Q2.
In the second quarter of 2023, real GDP increased in New Jersey in 16 of the 23 industry groups for which BEA prepares quarterly estimates. Professional, scientific, and technical services; utilities; transportation and warehousing; and construction were the leading contributors to the increase in real GDP in the state.
