Private-sector unemployment in New Jersey is at an 11-year low, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The bureau said that in the Garden State, employment expanded in July while the state’s unemployment rate dropped, edging lower for the fourth month in a row by 0.1 percentage point to 4.2 percent. This is the state’s lowest unemployment rate since July 2007, it said.
Total nonfarm wage and salary employment increased by 13,000 in July to 4.2 million overall. The uptick was fueled by the openings of two casino hotels in Atlantic City, it said.
Looking from July 2017 to July 2018, employment in the state was higher by 75,500, with the majority of gains recorded in the private-sector (+73,400). Since February 2010, which the bureau said is the lowest point of the last recession, New Jersey’s private-sector employers added 393,400 jobs.
In July, job increases were recorded in five out of nine major private-sector industries:
- Leisure and hospitality, 7,000;
- Education and health services, 4,700;
- Professional and business services, 1,600;
- Manufacturing, 1,600;
- Trade, transportation and utilities, 600.
In the same month, job losses were also recorded:
- Construction, -1,000;
- Financial activities, -600;
- Information, -400;
- Other services, -300.
Over the month, pubic-sector employment dropped by 200 jobs.
