March 19, 2013
New Jersey
Employers Created 66,400 Jobs in 2012
New Jersey’s total
non-farm employment gains for 2012
were the highest in more than a
decade and 2012 marked a third
consecutive year of private sector
employment gains for the state,
according to revised figures from
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS).
Total non-farm employment gains for
2012 were revised upward by 18,400
jobs, from 48,000 to 66,400jobs, as
a result of annual benchmarking
performed by the BLS. The
over-the-year gain (December 2011 to
December 2012) marks the largest
total non-farm employment boost
reported for the state since 2000.
Private sector growth in 2012 also
was the highest since 2000,
according to the revised federal
data.
The BLS adjustment resulted from an
under-estimation of both private and
public sector employment in 2012.
The revised BLS data shows New
Jersey grew 59,100 private sector
jobs in 2012, up by 13,000 private
sector jobs over the preliminary BLS
estimates issued in January. The
state has gained 117,600 private
sector jobs since February 2010, the
low point for private sector
employment during the recession.
“The revised numbers provide further
confirmation that New Jersey’s labor
market has been strengthening. What
we saw as firm job growth is now
shown to have been even higher. The
ongoing surge in the state’s labor
force count shows that residents are
increasingly willing to search for
employment in this better
environment,” said Charles Steindel,
Chief Economist for the New Jersey
Department of Treasury.
The BLS benchmarking, an annual
adjustment of state-by-state
employment data, also revised the
state’s unemployment rate downward
for each of the last six months of
2012, settling at 9.5 percent in
December. Preliminary monthly
reports put the unemployment rate
at9.5 percent for January 2013,
although employment in January
increased by 3,000 private sector
jobs, according to preliminary BLS
estimates.
BENCHMARK REVISIONS FOR 2012
The BLS conducts annual benchmarking
adjustments at this time of year for
every state. The process re-anchors
monthly, sample-based survey
estimates to full-universe counts of
employment, primarily derived from
records of the unemployment
insurance tax system. The BLS
process revises the previously
released nonfarm employment
estimates, including those for 2012,
to new employment benchmarks.
Results of the annual benchmarking
adjustment showed that New Jersey
employers added more jobs over the
year, December 2011 to December
2012, than first estimated. The
previously reported over-the-year
change in total nonfarm employment
for 2012 showed a gain of 48,000
jobs. After benchmark revisions, the
over-the-year change reveals that
New Jersey’s employers added a more
robust 66,400 jobs in 2012. This
represents an upward adjustment of
18,400 jobs.
Preliminary estimates showed a gain
of 46,100 private sector jobs while
revised data show the gain to be
59,100. Public sector employment was
originally estimated to show a small
gain of 1,900 jobs in 2012 while
revised estimates show an
over-the-year gain of 7,300 jobs.
Overall, this year’s benchmark
revision (based on unadjusted March
2012 data, the month which is used
to re-anchor the estimates) was +0.2
percent. In comparison, national
employment estimates for 2012 had a
revision of +0.3 percent.
Six of the nine major private
industry sectors of the New Jersey
economy gained jobs over the
December 2011 to December 2012
period. The largest gains were
recorded in professional and
business services (+22,700),
education and health services
(+16,400), trade, transportation and
utilities (+10,600), leisure and
hospitality (+7,400), other services
(+4,400) and financial activities
(+3,300). Industry sectors that
contracted over the year included
manufacturing (-2,100), construction
(-2,000), and information (-1,500).
In the public sector, the job
advance was primarily due to
employment gains in local government
(+6,800). Local government
employment includes county,
municipal and local government
education workers.
Labor force estimates for New Jersey
were also revised for 2012. While
there were some monthly estimates
that were revised higher and others
lower, the overall average
unemployment rate for the year was
unchanged. For the year,
unemployment averaged 9.5 percent
with the monthly estimates
fluctuating between 9.7 and 9.2
percent, not 9.9 and 9.0 percent as
initially reported.
JANUARY 2013 ESTIMATES
For the most recent month, January
2013, nonfarm wage and salary
preliminary estimates show that
total employment increased by 2,600
jobs to reach a seasonally adjusted
level of 3,934,800. That increase
represents a growth of 3,000 private
sector jobs and a drop in public
employment by 400 jobs. The BLS
reported the state’s preliminary
unemployment rate for January to be
at 9.5 percent. The BLS benchmarking
had revised the December 2012
unemployment rate from a preliminary
9.6 percent to 9.5 percent.
Employment and unemployment
estimates for February will be
released on March 28, 2013.
In January, private sector
employment gains were recorded in
the trade, transportation and
utilities (+5,800), construction
(+2,600), manufacturing (+2,400),
and other services (+500) industry
sectors. Industry sectors that
registered job loss included
professional and business services
(-3,400), education and health
services (-1,700), leisure and
hospitality (-1,700), information
(-1,000) and financial activities
(-500).
Public sector employment in January
was lower by 400 as contraction at
the state government level (-2,800)
outpaced gains at the local (+2,500)
government level.
Over the month, the unadjusted
workweek for production workers
decreased by2.4 to 39.8 hours,
average hourly earnings decreased by
$0.36 to $18.84 and weekly earnings
were down by $60.41 to $749.83.
Compared with January of last year,
the unadjusted workweek was lower by
1.3 hours, average hourly earnings
decreased by $0.60 and weekly
earnings were lower by $49.15.
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