Initial unemployment claims in New Jersey totaled 8,767 for the week ending Oct. 25, an increase of 4.9% compared to the previous week, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Continued claims, which represent claims filed by people already approved for unemployment insurance benefits, totaled 90,324 for the week ending Oct. 25, which was 1.3% higher than the previous week and 0.7% lower than the comparable week last year.
The new claims data does not include recently announced large-scale corporate layoffs set to take effect before Jan. 1, including 811 employees at Novo Nordisk in Plainsboro and 467 workers at Harrison Sportservice, operator of concessions at the Red Bull arena in Harrison.
By law, businesses with 100 or more employees are required to report plans for mass layoffs (50 or more employees) to the NJDOL, which maintains an online list that can be found here.
Due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Labor has not been releasing its regular economic data, including unemployment reports. In response, NJDOL is utilizing internal administrative data to maintain continuity in public reporting.
The weekly state unemployment claims data does not include federal employees in New Jersey who have applied for state unemployment insurance benefits due to recent furloughs, the NJDOL said. Since the start of the federal government shutdown on Oct. 1, NJDOL has received over 1,800 claims from those impacted federal workers, and an additional 1,500 claims from non-federal workers also impacted by the shutdown.
