Number of Jobs in New Jersey Grows

The number of jobs in New Jersey expanded for the third consecutive month in April — increasing by 14,000 jobs — with the vast majority of the gain in the private sector.   Employment in the Garden State has now increased by 32,000 jobs since January of this year, according to a press released from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The state’s unemployment rate in April remained at 9.3 percent, as the overall workforce continued to grow with previously discouraged workers reentering the labor market, as is expected early in an economic recovery. The U.S. unemployment rate increased from 8.8 to 9.0 percent during April, according to the release.

Preliminary estimates indicate that total nonfarm wage and salary employment in New Jersey increased in April to 3,860,900, as measured by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) through its monthly employer survey. Private sector businesses added 13,400 jobs over the month with five of ten industry supersectors recording job gains, according to the release.

“The private-sector job gain is extremely encouraging, with the fairly substantial increase showing that the recovery may be gaining a bit of momentum, and pickups in sectors such as manufacturing and retailing suggesting that a larger cross-section of the state’s economy is starting to benefit,” said Charles Steindel, Chief Economist for the New Jersey Department of Treasury.

Based on more complete reporting from employers, previously released March estimates were little changed, down by 300, to show an over-the-month (February-March) total nonfarm employment gain of 4,300 jobs. Preliminary estimates had indicated an over-the-month gain of 4,600 jobs.

In April, the job growth leader was the trade, transportation, and utilities industry supersector which added 8,300 jobs. All three components of the industry added workers: retail trade (+4,200), wholesale trade (+1,800) and transportation and warehousing (+2,300). Other supersectors with strong gains included manufacturing (+3,200), education and health services (+2,700), and leisure and hospitality (+2,700). Somewhat smaller gains were registered in the construction industry, which was up by 800.

Industries that recorded job loss included information (-1,700), financial activities (-1,100), professional and business services (-1,000), and other services (-500). The loss in information was mainly a result of contraction in the telecommunications component while the drop in financial activities occurred mostly in the real estate segment.

Public sector employment in April was higher by 600 as gains in local (+700) and federal (+100) government levels overshadowed a 200 drop in state employment. Local government includes counties, municipalities and local school boards.

Over the month, the unadjusted workweek for production workers increased by 0.2 hours to 40.3 hours, average hourly earnings increased by $0.13 to $19.10 and weekly earnings were up by $9.03 to $769.73. Compared to April of last year, the unadjusted workweek was higher by 0.2 hours, average hourly earnings increased by $0.21 and weekly earnings were higher by $12.24.

Technical Notes: Estimates of industry employment and unemployment levels are arrived at through the use of two different monthly surveys.

Industry employment data are derived through the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, a monthly survey of business establishments conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the US Department of Labor, which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data broken down by industry for the nation as a whole, all states, and most major metropolitan areas (often referred to as the “establishment” survey).

Resident employment and unemployment data are mainly derived from the New Jersey portion of the national Current Population Survey (CPS), a household survey conducted each month by the US Census Bureau under contract with BLS, which provides input to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program (often referred to as the “household” survey).

Both industry and household estimates are revised each month based on additional information from updated survey reports compiled by BLS.  In addition, these estimates are benchmarked (revised) annually based on actual counts from New Jersey’s Unemployment Compensation Law administrative records and other data.