A third of small businesses in New Jersey closed in 2020, according to a new analysis from Harvard’s TrackTheRecovery.org data project.
The report reveals that 31.2% of small businesses in the Garden State closed as of November 16. The figure is just above the national average estimated by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, which put it at 28% in October.
Business leaders are distressed despite the Christmas shopping season, as consumption is not that of previous years, partly because of unemployment and uncertainty about the coming months, in addition to the threat of a possible new closure. New Jersey recorded 4,669 cases on Nov. 21, the most it has ever reported in a single day.
In neighboring New York state, 27.8% of small businesses have not reopened. More than half of the small businesses in both states were forced to close their doors during the spring at the height of the pandemic.
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