Despite the fact that New Jersey’s jobless rate dropped slightly from 5.4 percent to 5.3 percent in June, the state continued to lose jobs in New Jersey as employers shed over 4,000 jobs. According to the state Labor and Workforce Development Department, the private sector, where all of the job losses occurred, did away with 4,100 positions. During the same time, public sector employers created 100 new job postings.

Labor Commissioner David Socolow believes that the circumstances of the state’s employment market are extremely similar to those being experienced on a national level for the last six months. To illustrate this, he pointed out that the total non-farm employment decline has caused the loss of 14,100 New Jersey jobs, which is a decrease of 0.35 percent, while the country has lost 438,000 positions, a 0.32 percent decrease.

For the most part, New Jersey’s employment losses happened in the manufacturing sector. The was attributed to a smaller demand for building products and home furnishings, which is to be expected considering the state of the housing market. This sector did away with 2,600 jobs in June. According to the state, another 1,000 jobs were lost due to the closure of trucking company Jevic Transportation.

These New Jersey job losses mark the end of the state’s employment expansion, says the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. The expansion began in March of 2003 and is assumed to have ended in December of 2007.

“It’s no longer a question of whether New Jersey is entering a downturn,” said president of the NJBIA Philip Kirschner. “We’re there. Any hope of a comeback in private-sector job growth this year has just about vanished with this report.”

Kirschner’s feelings toward the job market are in accord with Rutgers University’s latest economic forecast. According to the report, New Jersey has already been in a mild recession for the last six months and isn’t expected to recover until early 2010.

Labels: New Jersey Jobs