GSI Analysis: October ’22 Jobs Report – NJ Job Market Remains Strong; Unemployment Rate Driven Up by Large increase in Labor Force

• Modest overall job decline resulted from a correction in government employment
• Private sector gained 6,700 jobs after an upward revision to September
• Unemployment rate ticked up 0.2% to 3.5%, due to sharp gain in the labor force, but remains under national rate of 3.7%

MORRISTOWN, NJ – On November 17th, New Jersey’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development issued the monthly jobs report for October 2022. Dr. Charles Steindel, former Chief Economist of the State of New Jersey, analyzed the report for the Garden State Initiative:

New Jersey’s labor market developments in October were positive overall. Total nonfarm employment did edge down by 1,300, but that was the result of a marked loss of 8,000 government jobs, following an unusually large gain in that sector in September. Private jobs grew by 6,700, and the initial count for September was revised 4,300, and now shows an increase. Finance was the only private sector to report a job loss; construction, which has been weak, eked out a modest 400 gain.

The state’s unemployment rate edged up from 3.3% to 3.5% but is under the national mark of 3.7%. The unemployment rate increase was due to an unusually large increase of 23,900 in the state’s labor force (more than reversing a notable drop in September)—resident employment expanded by 15,100.

Although concerns are rising that a recession may be brewing, the national labor market has not shown any worrying signs, and the same is true for New Jersey.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will issue its monthly “State Employment and Unemployment” report on Friday, November 18th, which offers a comparison of how New Jersey is faring relative to other states.