State loses 4,500 jobs in October as unemployment rate ticks up

Eric Strauss//November 20, 2014

New Jersey’s employment numbers slipped in October, according to preliminary estimates reported Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.The state lost 4,500 jobs, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. They were about evenly split between the private and public sectors, which lost 2,400 and 2,100 jobs, respectively. That bumped the state unemployment rate 0.1 percentage point higher, to 6.6 percent.

However, revised estimates for September showed a gain of 3,000 jobs, rather than the 600 originally reported.

The biggest job gains in October were in the education and health services industry, which added 1,700 jobs, and the financial activities industry, which added 1,300.

The biggest declines were in construction, which lost 3,500 jobs, and professional and business services, which lost 3,000.

ALSO ON NJBIZ:

Revel buyer backing out of deal, report says

Fox: Transportation Trust Fund is ‘too important for us to fail’

‘He’s gold’: Ex-N.J. governors talk Christie’s second term