GSI Analysis: New Jersey’s Labor Market Improved in March

• Unemployment rate fell to 4.9%–first time under 5% since January 2025.
• 5,800 increase in jobs.

The news on New Jersey’s labor market was rather better in March. The state’s unemployment rate fell from 5.1% to 4.9%. That is still higher than the nation’s 4.3%, but the gap has been halved since last August, when New Jersey’s rate was 5.5%  (the national rate was 4.3%). March was the first month since January 2025 that the state’s unemployment rate was under 5%. While most of the drop in unemployment in March was due to a decline in the labor force, the number of residents at work was estimated to have increased by a bit more than 2,000.

The job figures were also brighter. The number of jobs in the state rose by 5,800, offsetting most of February’s 8,200 loss (the estimate of job losses in February was reduced from the initially reported 10,300). Most sectors reported increases; financial activities and other services were the only ones with appreciable losses.

Taken in isolation, the March report doesn’t look bad. However, taking a longer look, the state’s job market looks fairly anemic: the number of jobs in March 2025 was only 4,000 higher than in March 2024. That poor performance was skewed by a drop in government jobs, but the private sector increase of 9,300 was not impressive, amounting to a gain of less than 1/3 of one percent.