Official Site of The State of New JerseyNew Jersey Labor Market Added Jobs in July
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2025
TRENTON – Preliminary labor market estimates for July, produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicated gains in New Jersey’s labor market. Total nonfarm employment increased in July by 7,500 jobs to a seasonally adjusted level of 4,385,400 jobs, while the state’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent.
Revised employment estimates for June were adjusted downward to a job loss of 14,400 (preliminary estimates were -9,700). The state’s unemployment rate for June remained unchanged at 4.9 percent.
In July, six out of nine private industries recorded employment gains compared to June. Those sectors were professional and business services (+7,700), leisure and hospitality (+3,000), other services (+2,500), manufacturing (+1,200), private education and health services (+500), and financial activities (+100). Industries that recorded job losses include construction (-1,600), trade, transportation, and utilities (-200), and information (-100). The public sector recorded a loss of 5,600 jobs for July.
Over the past 12 months, New Jersey has added 24,800 nonfarm jobs. The private sector recorded a gain of 32,000 over that time. Six out of nine private sector industries recorded a gain, including private education and health services (+32,100), professional and business services (+11,600), financial activities (+3,000), manufacturing (+2,500), other services (+1,400), and leisure and hospitality (+1,000). Losses were recorded year-over-year in construction (-8,000), trade, transportation, and utilities (-6,900), and information (-4,700). The public sector has recorded a loss of 7,200 jobs over the past 12 months.
Preliminary BLS estimates data for August will be released on September 18, 2025.
NJ Employment Situation Highlights: July 2025
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 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 https://www.bls.gov/sae/seasonal-adjustment/.