- State’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.4%
- Job increase of 5,700 brought the count to a new peak.
New Jersey’s labor market numbers were mixed in December. The unemployment rate remained 5.4%, a full point higher than the nation’s 4.4%, and the state’s rate of 4.6% which prevailed over the second half of 2024 and into the start of 2025. December did see increases in both the numbers of residents working and in the labor force. The labor force grew by more than 26,000 from August to December, a pace, which if sustained for a full year, would boost the workforce by more than 1 ½%.
The payroll numbers were firmer. December’s 5,700 increase more than offset declines in October and November, and brought the total (and private sector) job count to a new record high. However, the number of jobs in December 2025 was only 9,000 higher than in December 2024. It is anticipated that upcoming revisions will boost the reported level and growth of jobs in 2025. The revisions will be released in April.
December saw marked increases in jobs in Professional and Business Services (2,500), Education and Health Services (2,800), and Leisure and Hospitality (3,000), offset by a 3,700 loss in Trade, Transportation and Utilities. It may be that limited holiday hiring held down the numbers in retail trade, the largest part of Trade, Transportation and Utilities.
There is as yet limited information from other states. New York saw a larger gain in jobs than New Jersey (19,100), both in raw numbers and in percentage terms, but the Empire State’s unemployment rate edged up from 4.5% to 4.6%, as a very large increase in its labor force outstripped a substantial gain in resident employment.
