Official Site of The State of New JerseyNew Jersey Employment Report: June 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2026
TRENTON – Preliminary nonfarm employment labor market estimates for June, produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicate that New Jersey payrolls decreased by 300 over the month, resulting in a seasonally adjusted employment level of 4,387,100 jobs. The state’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.5 percent from May to June.
Employment estimates for May were revised downward to show an April to May gain of 1,400 (preliminary estimates: +2,200). The state’s unemployment rate for May was unchanged at 4.7 percent.
Over the past month, five out of nine private industry sectors recorded employment gains compared to May. Those sectors were professional and business services (+3,700), private education and health services (+3,600), construction (+500), manufacturing (+500), and other services (+500). Sectors that recorded job losses include trade, transportation, and utilities (-4,200), leisure and hospitality (-3,700), information (-900), and financial activities (-300). The public sector recorded a loss of 100 jobs for the month.
Over the year, the state recorded a total gain of 8,000 nonfarm jobs, with the private sector recording a gain of 10,100 jobs. Two private industry sectors recorded year-over-year gains over that span: private education and health services (+31,000) and professional and business services (+6,100). Losses were recorded year-over-year in trade, transportation, and utilities (-8,400), manufacturing (-4,600), leisure and hospitality (-3,900), information (-3,300), construction (-3,000), financial activities (-3,000), and other services (-800). The public sector recorded a loss of 2,100 jobs over the same timeframe.
Preliminary BLS estimates data for June will be released on August 20, 2026.
NJ Employment Situation Highlights: June 2026
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 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 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 https://www.bls.gov/sae/seasonal-adjustment/.