Evening star., 1941-03-02
New Jersey Boom
Is Under Way as Jobs
And Business Bloom
Retail Trade Jumps l2%
In 3 Months; Auto Sales
Increase Is Per Cent
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
NEWARK, March New Jersey,
which has the biggest batch OF de-
fense orders of any State, provides
a sample of what the defense pro-
gram means in terms of growing
prosperity for the man-in-the-
street.
There the little fellow" with
fatter pay envelope, help wanted"
signs all around him and the
demand for skilled workers in de-
fense industries outpacing the sup
ply, is wasting no time helping to
widen the spiraling job cycle by
starting booms of his own in the
automobile, housing and a dozen
other industries.
Factories of the Garden State
35th in size and with per cent Of
the national population-are hum
ming to handle II per cent of all
defense contracts issued so far.
Almost a billion and half dollars
have been poured into New Jersey
on military contracts for Worcester
shire sauce as well as battleshipS,
table tennis outfits as well as can
non, pencil sharpeners as well as
gunpowder.
A. Louis Martin, manager Of a
theater in booming Paterson, sums
up the results this way:
There isn't anybody in our
matinees anymore. Everybody seems
to have gone to work"
Relief Rolls Drop.
The State relief office offers these
figures: The number of persons on
It's lists dropped from l67089 in
December. 1899, to 1o4 ,343 at the end
of 1910. The monthly w. P. A. quota
is down 1000 from March of last
year to $1,000 and 1880 of the
present workers are engaged on de-
fense projects at forts and arSenalS.
The State Department of Agri-
culturesfnds q very definite trend"
from farm to city in search of de-
fense industry jobs, because farms
cant compete with the attractive
wages and shorter hours offered by
industry. Migratory labor viii be
our only salvation this year for a
situation that is getting worse"
There seems to be little lost mo-
ton in the transfer of pay from
cashiers window to retailers till.
G.. r. Wilson, president of the
State Retail Merchants Associa-
ton, says the new workman first
cleans up old debts, improves his
credit. Credit associations report
an increasingly bright picture, and
say more business is being done with
cash.
Retail Business Jumps.
Retail business, says Mr.. Wilson,
has jumped II per cent during the
past three months compared with
the corresponding period last year,
especially in the home furnishing
division.
The Newark Automobile Trade
Association reports a Is per cent
Statewide increase in sale of both
new and used cars, and an even
larger increase in areas like Camden,
where the giant New York Ship
building Co. yards sprawl.
1--WE haven't begun to feel the real
effect of the defense program yet"
comments w. l.. Mallon, president
of the automotive group. Were
looking for a greater increase"
The Federal Housing AdminiStra-
ton called January the best build
ing month in IL years, with big de-
mand by individuals for loans on
small homes and with 10000 resi-
dents in the $4,000 class being built
by real estate firms. Federal agen-
cies have in addition boosted the
building business with orders for
1000 housing units in industrial
areas.
Liquor and Theaters Have No Boom.
However, in the recreation and
entertainment fields, motion picture
theater chains say they aren't get
ting any larger share of the pay
roll dollars, and the New Jersey
Licensed Beverage Dealers Associ-
alton finds there have only been
localized pickups in the liquor trade.
But both anticipate big increases
within a few months when the re-
turning worker has finished making
major purchases.