- After months of weakness, payrolls surge 19,200 in September.
- Unemployment rate dips to 4.7% while labor force drops.
On October 17th, New Jersey’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development issued the Monthly Jobs Report for September 2024. Dr. Charles Steindel, former Chief Economist of the State of New Jersey, analyzed the report for the Garden State Initiative:
New Jersey saw a marked rebound in its job market in September. The total number of jobs in the state increased by 19,200—the strongest gain in a year, and August is now reported to have seen an increase of 100, well above the initial estimate of a loss of 4,400. Education and health service jobs increased by 10,100 in September, while trade, transportation, and utilities, construction, and manufacturing also saw marked percentage increases. Financial services and information shed a few jobs, while government employment was virtually unchanged. New Jersey’s performance was markedly better than New York, which saw a 2,000 increase in payrolls (New York, like New Jersey, also saw an upward revision to August).
The state’s unemployment rate, which has been fluctuating in a very narrow range for more than a year, edged down from 4.8% in August to 4.7% in September, remaining elevated compared to the national figure of 4.1%. The state’s labor force, which had been on an uptrend, moved down in September.
Seasonal movements in jobs are large in summer months, and it is often difficult for the adjustment procedure to properly anticipate them. Most likely, the strong September numbers are largely a make-up for a string on oddly weak results, rather than an indication that the state’s economy has suddenly gained a lot of forward momentum. However, whatever the reason, the September figures were quite welcome.
