New Jersey Employers Add to Payrolls in March
New Jersey Employers Add to Payrolls in March
Unemployment Rate Holds Steady at 4.6 Percent
TRENTON, April 19, 2018 – New Jersey’s payroll employment continued to advance in March, driven primarily by an increase of 4,200 jobs in the private sector. The state’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.6 percent, remaining above the national rate of 4.1 percent.
Total nonfarm wage and salary employment increased by 5,100 in March to reach a seasonally adjusted level of 4,180,300, according to preliminary estimates produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Based on more complete reporting from employers, previously released total nonfarm employment estimates for February were revised lower by 2,800 jobs to show an over-the-month (January-February) increase of 13,000 jobs. The state’s revised February unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.6 percent.
Looking at the longer-term, over the year March 2017-March 2018, employment in New Jersey was higher by 67,100, with the majority of the gains recorded by private sector employers (+65,100). Since February 2010 – the low point of the last recession – New Jersey’s private sector employers have added 373,600 jobs.
In March, employment increases were recorded in four out of nine major private industry sectors. Industry sectors which recorded job gains over the month include leisure and hospitality (+3,800), professional and business services (+2,100), manufacturing (+1,200), and trade, transportation, and utilities (+1,100). Job losses were recorded in construction (-1,400), other services (-1,200), education and health services (-1,000), information (-200), and financial activities (-200). Over the month, public sector employment was higher by 900 jobs, with most of the gains at the state level (+700).
Preliminary BLS data for April 2018 will be released on May 17, 2018.
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 New Jersey 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/saeconcurrent.htm.
###
