The Northern/Central New Jersey office market has seen a steady yet underwhelming recovery, and when compared to numbers alone on a national level, the situation can be downright concerning. When you look beyond the big picture, however, and focus in on the details, you can see that it’s actually a healthy example of a labor-driven market in transition. With the New Jersey unemployment rate at 4.5 percent and the national rate just below 4 percent at midyear, a huge part of the economic story today revolves around a tight labor market. This is a positive disruption as it makes labor a driving force behind a lot of business decisions. The labor market is not accepting just any work environment, which is creating the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in our market. In the Northern/Central New Jersey market, success stories are emerging from urban areas like Jersey City and Newark, both experiencing huge momentum from population growth, declining vacancy rates and new construction. These two are the obvious choice for workers and employers migrating from New York City toward cheaper rents while both cities have positioned themselves to absorb the increased activity.