New Jersey Employment Shows Modest Gain in September
New Jersey Employment Shows Modest Gain in September
Unemployment Rate Remains at 4.2 Percent
TRENTON – New Jersey employers added to their payrolls for a fifth consecutive month in September, according to preliminary estimates produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total nonfarm wage and salary employment increased modestly in September, up by 1,000 jobs, to reach a seasonally adjusted level of 4,195,900. All of the gain occurred in the private sector of the state’s economy, which added 1,900 jobs for the month. The state’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent for September.
Looking at the longer-term, over the year September 2017 – September 2018, employment in New Jersey was higher by 58,000, with the majority of the gains recorded by private sector employers (+56,900). Since February 2010 (the low point of the last recession), New Jersey’s private sector employers have added 388,600 jobs.
Based on more complete reporting from employers, previously released total nonfarm employment estimates for August were revised lower by 800 jobs to show an over-the-month (July – August) increase of 800 jobs.
In September, employment increases were recorded in five out of nine major private industry sectors. Industry sectors which added jobs over the month include professional and business services (+2,800), information (+1,200), leisure and hospitality (+900), financial activities (+600), and other services (+200). Job losses over the month occurred in the education and health services (-2,100), construction (-1,500), and manufacturing (-200) sectors. Job levels in the trade, transportation, and utilities did not record a change. Over the month, public sector employment was lower by 900 jobs.
Preliminary BLS data for October 2018 will be released on November 15, 2018.
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 approximately 4,000 New Jersey business establishments conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 the BLS. In addition, these estimates are benchmarked (revised) annually based on actual counts from New Jersey’s Unemployment Compensation Law administrative records and more complete data from all New Jersey employers.
Effective with the release of January 2018 estimates, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program has converted to concurrent seasonal adjustment, which uses all available estimates, including those for the current month, in developing seasonal factors. Previously, the CES program developed seasonal factors once a year during the annual benchmark process. For more information on concurrent seasonal adjustment in the CES State and Area program, see www.bls.gov/sae/saeconcurrent.htm.
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