In August 2020, as New Jersey’s economy began to reopen after the first wave of the pandemic, attention turned to the impact of the pandemic on our state’s economy and job market.

Dr. James W. Hughes, a nationally known expert on demographics, housing and regional economics who served for more than two decades as the Dean of Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, presented on the impact of the pandemic on the state’s economy along with a comparative analysis of the current period to historic economic contractions such as the Great Depression and the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.