New Jersey businesses added 14,800 jobs in April, and the statewide unemployment rate declined slightly to 4.1%, state officials announced Thursday.
Nonfarm employment reached a seasonally adjusted level of 4,191,500, according to data released by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. New Jersey has recovered 95% of the jobs lost in March and April of 2020 due to the pandemic.
The state’s 4.1% unemployment for April was down 0.1 from the 4.2% rate recorded in March. The national unemployment rate for April was 3.6%, according to recently released data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Based on more complete reporting from New Jersey employers, the previously released total nonfarm employment estimates for March were revised higher by 1,500 to show an over-the-month (February – March) increase of 19,300 jobs, the NJDOL said. Preliminary estimates had indicated an over-the-month gain of 17,800 jobs in March.
Job growth in New Jersey during the first four months of 2022 has averaged nearly 18,700 jobs per month, the NJDOL said. Businesses added 11,400 jobs in January; 29,200 jobs in February; 19,300 jobs in March; and 14,800 in April.
During April, employment increases were recorded in eight out of nine major private industry sectors: leisure and hospitality (+4,700); trade, transportation, and utilities (+4,400); education and health services (+4,200); other services (+1,200); professional and business services (+1,000); manufacturing (+800), financial activities (+500), and information (+300).
Construction (-2,600) was the only sector that saw job losses in April compared to the previous month.
Public sector employment increased by 200 jobs during April to 582,500.
