New Jersey’s employment growth continued for the 17th consecutive month in April, as non-farm employment increased by 14,800 jobs to reach a seasonally adjusted level of 4,191,500.
On Thursday, the Department of Labor & Workforce Development announced the state’s unemployment rate declined to 4.1%.
Job growth so far in 2022 has averaged nearly 18,700 jobs per month, and the unemployment rate has fallen from 5.1% recorded this past January. New Jersey has now recovered 695,700 jobs, or about 95% of the number lost in March and April 2020, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In April, employment increases were recorded in eight out of nine major private industry sectors. Over-the-month gains were recorded in:
- Leisure and hospitality (+4,700);
- Trade, transportation, and utilities (+4,400);
- Education and health services (+4,200);
- Other services (+1,200);
- Professional and business services (+1,000);
- Manufacturing (+800);
- Financial activities (+500);
- Information (+300).
Construction (-2,600) was the only sector that decreased from the prior month. Over the month, public sector employment increased by 200 jobs.
