NJ Employers Added 10,000 Jobs In June

Good news when it comes to New Jersey's job figures.  The state Department of Labor says employers added 9,900 jobs to their payrolls in June.

"Combined with gains recorded in May, employment in the Garden state has increased by nearly 25,000 jobs over the past two months. This represents the largest two-month gain in over twelve years" said Hal Wirths, Commissioner of the state Department of Labor.

Over the year, June 2011 – June 2012, total nonfarm employment in New Jersey has increased by 65,000 jobs.  Private sector employers in the Garden State have added 89,700 jobs since February 2010, which was the low point of private sector employment during the recession.

But, despite the job gains, the state’s June unemployment rate moved to 9.6 percent from May’s 9.2 percent.

"In recent months, New Jersey employers have been adding jobs at rates not seen in years, and at a faster pace than the nation as a whole. If the job count keeps rising at this pace, unemployment will inevitably come down," said Charles Steindel, Chief Economist for the New Jersey Department of Treasury.

The rise in the unemployment rate was due, in part, to an influx of new entrants and re-entrants to the state’s labor market.   New Jersey’s rate is now 1.4 percentage points above the national rate of 8.2 percent, which was unchanged in June.

"I know that New York and Conneticut's unemployment rates both went up as well last month and I know that both states have added jobs, so I'm not sure what the reason for the uptick is, other than more people coming back into the labor market looking for work" said Wirths.

Nonfarm wage and salary employment in New Jersey advanced in June, up by 9,900 jobs, to a seasonally adjusted 3,914,200, as measured by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) through its monthly employer survey.

In June, private sector job gains were posted in six of ten industry sectors; three recorded losses while one was unchanged. The industry sector with the largest gain was leisure and hospitality, which added 6,100 jobs, boosted by greater than expected seasonal hiring. Other industries that registered larger gains included education and health services (+2,500), professional and business services (+2,000), and financial activities (+1,200). In education and health services, gains were recorded in both components; educational services (+900) and health care and social assistance (+1,600). The advance in professional and business services was due to hiring in the administrative support/waste management/remediation segment (+2,500) while the increase in financial activities was split among the finance and insurance (+300) and real estate, rental and leasing (+900) components.

 The largest over-the-month loss occurred in the trade, transportation and utilities sector (-2,500), mainly due to cutbacks in the wholesale trade subsector (-2,300). Losses also occurred in manufacturing (-2,400) and construction (-500). Employment in the information sector was unchanged.

"The job creation continues, this is the highest two months of job creation we've seen in New Jersey in over twelve years" added Wirths.