Preliminary estimates indicate that total nonfarm wage and salary employment in New Jersey contracted in October, down by 11,700 jobs, to a seasonally adjusted 3,892,200, as measured by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) through its monthly employer survey. Lower employment levels were recorded in both the private (-9,400) and public (-2,300) sectors of the state’s economy.

“The large increase in household employment and the labor force reverses some of the recent drops in resident employment and labor force participation. While there were divergent moves across industries in their job counts, we remain above the national numbers in our labor force participation rate and the fraction of our population that is employed,” said Charles Steindel, Chief Economist for the New Jersey Department of Treasury.

Based on more complete reporting from employers, previously released September estimates were revised lower, down by 1,500 jobs, to show an over-the-month (August – September) total nonfarm employment loss of 2,700 jobs. Preliminary estimates indicated an over-the-month loss of 1,200 jobs.

In October, private sector job gains were posted in three of ten industry sectors; six recorded a loss while one was unchanged. Industries that registered larger gains included construction (+4,500), professional and business services (+1,200), and other services (+1,100). Larger losses occurred in leisure and hospitality (-9,700), trade, transportation and utilities (-2,700), and education and health services (-2,100). Sectors with smaller decreases included financial activities (-700), information (-600) and manufacturing (-400).

In October, public sector employment was lower by 2,300 due entirely to contracting payrolls at the state (-1,800) and local (-700) government levels.

Over the month, the unadjusted workweek for production workers remained unchanged at 41.3 hours, average hourly earnings were lower by $0.31 to $18.94 and weekly earnings fell by $12.81 to $782.22. Compared to October of last year, the unadjusted workweek decreased by 0.1 hour, average hourly earnings increased by $0.12, and weekly earnings were higher by $3.07.

Press Release Tables

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 business establishments conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the US 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 US 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 other data.