The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) updated data found approximately 395,300 additional jobs added to New Jersey’s labor force within the past two years as the state’s economy recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.
Those additional job numbers indicate that the state’s workforce rebounded a lot quicker and with more people being employed from the pandemic, months earlier than first reported .
The annual employment review by BLS adjusted its finding from previously released employment data at the state and metropolitan area levels to reflect the additional data-points gathered from monthly job estimates to full-universe counts of employment, derived primarily from records of the unemployment insurance tax system.
34,000 More Jobs
After the annual adjustment, the data was again analyzed disclosing the accurate gains made within a 12-month period from December 2021 to December 2022. In total non-farm jobs were revised to 129,700, new jobs, correcting the previously reported gain of 148,900 jobs.
The updated data, including the higher employment revisions in 2021, shows a total gain of 395,300 new jobs were added to New Jersey’s labor force within the past two-years, approximately 34,000 more jobs than originally estimated.
Pandemic Effect
Although the job gains are significant, the data highlighted job losses during the height of the pandemic. In March and April of 2020, the Garden State lost a total of 730,200 non-farm jobs, or 17.3% of the state’s non-farm employment total in February 2020. However, previous estimates by BLS had higher job losses of 732,600.
BLS’s revisions shows the recovery in non-farm jobs back in February 2020 began earlier than previously estimated. Payroll data indicates fully gained employment began four months earlier in April of 2020, rather than in August of 2022.
The revised report revealed that during the one-year period from December of 2021 to December of 2022, all nine leading private industry sectors added substantial workers to their labor force.
Breakdown by Sector
The 12-month gains were led by education and health services (+41,400); trade, transportation, and utilities (+29,200); leisure and hospitality (+26,900); other services (+9,300); professional and business services (+7,100); manufacturing (+6,700); information (+4,700); financial activities (+2,400); and construction (+1,800). However, public sector employment during that same period recorded a gain of just 100 jobs.
New Jersey’s labor participation rate was amended, revealing a 3.7% annual unemployment rate for 2022, a reduction from 6.6% in 2021, and just one-tenth of a percentage point above the 2022 national rate of 3.6%.
The preliminary report compiled in January 2023 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms that payrolls increased by 24,200 employees within the Garden State.
Private Sector Adds 21,800 Jobs in January
The total modified January non-farm employment showed a seasonally adjusted level of 4,321,600 workers. With New Jersey’s private sector adding 90% of the payroll growth, it created 21,800 new jobs for the month.
The report confirmed New Jersey’s unemployment rate rose to 3.4% as more Garden State residents went back into the job market searching for employment, which in turn increased New Jersey’s labor force participation rate in January to 64.3%. The exact same rate recorded before COVID in February 2020.
Additionally, January recorded private sector growth within seven out of nine important industries. Sectors that recorded gains were leisure and hospitality, education and health services, construction, manufacturing, trade, transportation, and utilities, financial activities and information. Sectors that recorded losses were professional and business services, along with public sector employment.
The spelling errors here are absolutes atrocious! Today alone: “gaines” and “The State Assemby”….this is not a money issue.