4,600 find jobs but 391,400 remain unemployed

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Despite at least 4,600 New Jerseyans finding jobs in March, the state’s unemployment rate climbed from 9.2 to 9.3 percent, the state government announced Thursday.

The Department of Labor and Workforce Development stated the majority of the employment gain was recorded among private sector businesses, which added 3,000 jobs over the month. It also stated that county and municipal governments added 1,600 jobs.

Commenting on the rise in the unemployment rate, Labor Department officials said that “discouraged (jobless) workers by resuming their job search, can temporarily cause the unemployment rate to rise even as jobs are increasing. They stated that the number of employed New Jerseyans grew for the second consecutive month, as new jobs increased by 18,300 between January and March.

Another 391,400 New Jerseyans remain jobless.

"The continuing gains in private sector jobs show that hiring by New Jersey firms is starting to develop some traction,” Charles Steindel, the state Department of Treasury‘s chief economist, said. “This is consistent with the improved national labor market numbers, and more particularly indications of some brightening locally. The pickup in hiring is consistent with the recent marked improvement in income earned by New Jerseyans; this is starting to feed through to higher spending and boost the demand for workers."

Based on what Labor Department officials describe as more complete reporting from employers, previously released February estimates show a revised January to February gain of 13,700 jobs. Preliminary estimates had indicated an over-the-month gain of 7,500 jobs.

While local governments hired 1,600 people, 600 jobs were lost in the state government.

During March, the unadjusted workweek for production workers increased by 0.2 hours to 40.1 hours, average hourly earnings decreased by $0.11 to $19.06 and weekly earnings fell by $0.57 to $764.31. Compared to March of last year, the unadjusted workweek was lower by 0.2 hours, average hourly earnings increased by $0.20 and weekly earnings were higher by $4.25.