New Jersey Loses 25,600 Jobs in July as Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.4%
Updated
Updated · News 12 New Jersey · Aug 23
New Jersey Loses 25,600 Jobs in July as Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.4%
1 articles · Updated · News 12 New Jersey · Aug 23
Summary
New Jersey's preliminary July estimate showed a 25,600 drop in nonfarm jobs, leaving seasonally adjusted employment at about 4.36 million, even as the unemployment rate edged down from 4.5% to 4.4%.
State labor officials said the decline likely overstates actual losses because seasonal adjustments missed typical July pullbacks in professional and business services and survey response rates were lower than expected.
13,400 jobs vanished in professional and business services, 7,300 in leisure and hospitality, and 2,700 in private education and health services; only three of nine private sectors gained jobs, while public employment rose by 300.
June's payroll estimate was revised sharply lower to a 4,200 loss from an initially reported 300 decline, and New Jersey now has 19,600 fewer jobs than a year earlier, with private-sector employment down 20,000.
Sept. 17 is the next checkpoint, when the state will release preliminary August figures and revised July data that could clarify whether the reported summer slump was largely statistical noise.