Official Site of The State of New JerseyNew Jersey Adds Jobs for 11th Straight Month
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2021
TRENTON –Nonfarm wage and salary employment in New Jersey increased by 25,800 in November to reach a seasonally adjusted level of 4,060,900, according to Preliminary estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marks the eleventh consecutive month of gains in the state’s total nonfarm job level, with five of the past six months showing gains of at least 20,500 jobs.
The November gains were concentrated in the private sector (+27,000) of the state’s economy. Including October’s revision, New Jersey private sector employers have added nearly 76,000 jobs over the past three months. New Jersey has now recovered 548,500 jobs, or about 76 percent of the number lost in March and April 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The state’s unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 6.6 percent for the month. See the technical notes at the end of this release for further information about the impact of the coronavirus on this month’s employment estimates.
Based on more complete reporting from employers, previously released total nonfarm employment estimates for October were revised higher to show an over-the-month (September – October) increase of 29,800 jobs. Preliminary estimates had indicated an over-the-month increase of 20,000 jobs. The state’s October unemployment rate remained at 7.0 percent.
In November, employment gains were recorded in eight out of nine major private industry sectors. Sectors that recorded increases are: professional and business services (+8,600), trade, transportation, and utilities (+8,500), education and health services (+4,200), leisure and hospitality (+3,300), other services (+2,400), manufacturing (+700), financial activities (+700), and information (+300). The only sector to record a loss over the month was construction (-1,800). Over the month, public sector employment decreased by 1,200.
Preliminary BLS data for December will be released on January 20, 2022.
Technical Notes: For further information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics regarding the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on industry employment and unemployment estimates please visit: https://www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-november-2021.htm
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.
