Employment numbers are mixed bag as unemployment rate falls, but so do total jobs

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The monthly employment figures released by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development were a tale of two numbers.On the upside, the state’s unemployment rate shrank for the 13^th consecutive month, dropping 0.2 of a percentage point to 4.3 percent in February. That mark is 2 percentage points lower over the year from February 2015 to February 2016, and now stands 0.6 of a percentage point lower than the national unemployment rate of 4.9 percent.

“We haven’t seen an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent since August of 2007, and that is only part of the good news,” James Wooster, the state’s chief economist, said in a prepared statement. “The reduction in the unemployment rate is accompanied by an increase in the number of people seeking work, by steady improvements in the New Jersey housing market and by improvements in the manufacturing and business outlook.

“It seems like yesterday that everyone was concerned about the New Jersey economic recovery lagging that of the nation, but those days are over.”

On the downside, however, private sector employment fell by 8,600 jobs from January, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compounded January’s figure, which was revised downward to a monthly loss of 15,700 jobs, giving the state a two-month losing streak when it comes to total nonfarm employment.

For February, the state lost 10,200 private-sector jobs while adding 1,600 public sector positions.

Among industries, financial activities gained 1,900 jobs for the month, while trade, transportation and utilities gained 1,500 jobs and manufacturing gained 500 positions.

On the other hand, there was a steady pattern of declines across other industries: professional and business services lost 5,600 jobs, leisure and hospitality lost 2,500, education and health services lost 2,200, other services lost 1,900, information lost 1,300 and construction lost 600.