How bad is the bad jobs report?

Good morning!

You’ve probably read a bit about the bad jobs report New Jersey released last week. So how bad is it?

Nikita Biryukov talked to some experts and, well, they’re not super optimistic!

Charles Steindel, New Jersey’s former chief economist, described reading the report this way: “You go, ‘eugh,’ and gnash your teeth and go, ‘Oh God, that doesn’t look good.’”

The Garden State reported 25,600 in preliminary job losses for July, the largest single-month decline since pandemic shutdowns caused New Jersey to shed 684,800 jobs in April 2020.

Future data may revise that number down, but for now it’s making economists worry. GOP leaders have used the losses to bash Gov. Mikie Sherrill, saying her policies are making employers flee.  “Governor Sherrill has abandoned her promise to make New Jersey more affordable,” Sen. Anthony Bucco (R) said. Sherrill spokesman Sean Higgins put the blame on the Trump administration, saying tariffs are driving job losses.

Either way, Steindel told Nikita that even though nationwide figures also show a slowdown, New Jersey “stood out.”

“This is not a blip in New Jersey. This is significant decline,” he said.

Read more from Nikita.

Data centers: Sherrill signed a bill into law Thursday that will require data center developers to report their water and energy usage to state regulators twice a year, part of a plan Sherrill said will “hold data centers accountable.” Environmental activists are peeved because they want a full-blown moratorium on data center construction. Sherrill said the state doesn’t need to “choose between innovation and accountability.”

Health: New Jersey health officials are urging people to make sure they are up to date on their immunizations after Pennsylvania recorded its first measles-related deaths in at least 35 years. Dr. Denise Rodgers, a family medicine expert and public health leader in Newark, told Lilo Stainton that parents should understand the need to get their kids vaccinated, adding that there is “significant and incontrovertible evidence” that the measles vaccine is safe. “No childhood vaccines have been found to cause autism and yet misinformation is causing thousands of children to be at risk because they are unvaccinated,” Rodgers said.

NJ-07: The House race in the 7th District is getting pretty wacky. Last week, the New York Times reported that someone called the police on Times reporter Tracey Tulley when she sat outside a Kean fundraiser waiting to talk to him. Now, Jacob Wendler of Politico noted, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. is fundraising off it. The Kean campaign email reads, “The New York Times showed up uninvited to a PRIVATE Team Kean fundraiser. They were told the event was closed. But instead of leave, they waited in the parking lot and then wrote and published an entire hit piece about not getting their way. Apparently, not receiving an invitation now qualifies as BREAKING NEWS ‘journalism.’”

Dolly: New Jersey journalist Steve Stirling paid tribute to the late, great Dolly Parton by putting together a timeline of the 100 versions of her classic song “Jolene.” Listen and weep.

D.C.: The developing trade war with Canada is giving some Republicans agita as they fear resulting rising prices could hand Democrats an advantage as November’s midterm elections near. States like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin — I hear some of these are important election-wise?? — could see effects if Canada follows through on retaliatory tariffs on booze, cars, dairy, and more. President Trump on Thursday fought back at Canada by declaring Lake Ontario is now named Lake America.