NJ.com. By: Rebecca Everett
April 22, 2017

CAMDEN — The City of Camden has found itself near the top of some undesirable lists over the years, including most dangerous cities.

But this week, the Camden metropolitan area was recognized for being at the top of a much more positive data set: It had the highest percent increase of jobs over the course of a year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the area tied with Dallas, Texas, as both areas saw a 3.7 percent increase in the number of jobs from February 2016 to February 2017. The bureau looked at non-farm jobs added in 38 metropolitan areas nationwide.

The metropolitan area, as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, includes Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties. The area added 18,900 jobs, bringing the total employment to 535,200. 

The local and state officials and advocates who have fought hard to lure businesses and jobs to Camden see the numbers as an indicator that their work is paying off.

“In the past, Camden was portrayed as crime-ridden, but now it’s job-ridden,” U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, D-Camden, said in a statement Friday. “These numbers provide hard proof that we have entered new and exciting chapter in South Jersey.”

Most of the biggest businesses that have been building or planning to build headquarters in the city of about 77,000 are getting massive tax breaks from the state’s Grow NJ program. They include tax credits for businesses that can prove they’re bringing jobs to the city for years to come, and deals to get property developers no tax adjustments for 10 years and then limited adjustments for another decade...

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