NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ-New Jersey may be in better shape than the US economy overall, but major demographic trends will keep conditions challenging, resulting in “the Great Uncertainty,” says the December 2010 issue of the Advance & Rutgers Report, which analyzes economic, business and demographic trends.

The state and country remain in a shifting world largely due to technology, as the productivity increase resulting from the tech revolution has depressed employment and the need for office space. “People are working remotely now,” says Peter Cocoziello, founder and CEO of Bedminster, NJ-based Advance Realty, which sponsors the quarterly report. It is edited by James W. Hughes, dean of Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and Joseph J. Seneca, a Rutgers professor.

While the US gained 1.1 million private sector jobs in the first 10 months of this year, compared with a loss of 4.7 million jobs during the same period of 2009, this gain is far below past employment expansions. The European debt crisis fed fears of a stalled recovery, keeping unemployment high. With increasing globalization of large businesses, it’s up to small business to create jobs in the US, Cocoziello says. “Our leadership here is doing a good job in understanding that growth has to be in smaller companies,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “The state must be agile in how it supports small business.”