Updated
Updated · News 12 New Jersey · Sep 20
New Jersey Loses 1,700 August Jobs as Unemployment Rate Dips to 4.3%
Updated
Updated · News 12 New Jersey · Sep 20

New Jersey Loses 1,700 August Jobs as Unemployment Rate Dips to 4.3%

1 articles · Updated · News 12 New Jersey · Sep 20

Summary

  • New Jersey shed 1,700 jobs in August, extending payroll declines to a second straight month after July’s loss was revised to 21,900 from an initially reported 25,600.
  • Public payrolls drove the August drop, falling 1,900, while private employers added a net 200 jobs.
  • Leisure and hospitality led monthly gains with 3,400 jobs, followed by construction at 1,000, but professional and business services lost 3,500 and private education and health services lost 1,400.
  • The job losses came even as the unemployment rate edged down to 4.3% from 4.4%.
  • Compared with a year earlier, the state had 9,900 fewer nonfarm jobs in August, with private employment down 13,100; the estimates remain preliminary and could be revised.

Insights

Why did New Jersey's unemployment rate drop while the state simultaneously lost thousands of jobs?
If New Jersey's public sector just shed 1,900 jobs, why is the state urgently hiring for numerous open positions?
Could flawed summer survey data be masking the true health of New Jersey's shifting labor market?