Official Site of The State of New JerseyNew Jersey Labor Market Added Jobs in August
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 18, 2025
TRENTON – Preliminary labor market estimates for August, produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, show New Jersey added jobs. Total nonfarm employment increased in August by 4,900 to a seasonally adjusted level of 4,389,200 jobs. The state’s unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point to 5.0 percent.
Revised employment estimates for July were adjusted downward to a gain of 6,400 (preliminary estimates indicated a gain of 7,500 jobs). The state’s unemployment rate for July remained unchanged at 4.9 percent.
Four out of nine private industry sectors recorded employment gains compared from July to August. Those sectors were professional and business services (+7,300), private education and health services (+1,700), leisure and hospitality (+1,100), and other services (+800). Sectors that recorded job losses include financial activities (-1,400), construction (-1,000), manufacturing (-600), information (-500), and trade, transportation, and utilities (-400). The public sector recorded a loss of 2,100 jobs for August.
Year-over-year, New Jersey has added 28,900 nonfarm jobs. Total private employment added 36,500 jobs over that time. Six out of nine private industry sectors recorded a gain, including private education and health services (+30,200), professional and business services (+18,000), leisure and hospitality (+7,100), financial activities (+1,900), manufacturing (+1,300), and other services (+800). Losses were recorded year-over-year in construction (‑10,000), trade, transportation, and utilities (-7,800), and information (‑5,000). The public sector has recorded a loss of 7,600 jobs over the past twelve months.
Preliminary BLS estimates data for September will be released on October 16, 2025.
NJ Employment Situation Highlights: August 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/.