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Local Area Unemployment Statistics, State and Area Employment, JOLTS · New Jersey

How is the job market in New Jersey?

The unemployment rate in New Jersey was 4.2% in the month ended , against 4.2% for the United States.

New Jersey, unemployment, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

New Jersey, unemployment, each month, one row for each measure
  • Unemployment rate4.2%3.1% to 15.4%
  • Participation rate63.7%60.7% to 64.7%
  • Employment-population ratio61.0%51.6% to 62.1%

New Jersey, people, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

New Jersey, people, each month, one row for each measure
  • Labor force, thousands4,928.44,479.0 to 4,928.4
  • Employed, thousands4,719.33,808.8 to 4,719.3
  • Unemployed, thousands209.1147.0 to 705.9

New Jersey, jobs and pay, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

New Jersey, jobs and pay, each month, one row for each measure
  • Nonfarm payrolls, thousands4,377.43,501.6 to 4,391.3
  • Average hourly earnings$39.32$28.15 to $39.63
  • Average weekly hours33.933.0 to 34.9

New Jersey, openings and turnover rates, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

New Jersey, openings and turnover rates, each month, one row for each measure
  • Job openings rate3.8%3.2% to 7.1%
  • Hires rate3.4%2.6% to 8.0%
  • Quits rate1.6%1.1% to 2.7%
  • Layoffs and discharges rate0.8%0.6% to 12.2%
  • Total separations rate2.7%2.3% to 14.4%

Each row is one measure of New Jersey over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

New Jersey, openings and turnover, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

New Jersey, openings and turnover, each month, one row for each measure
  • Job openings, thousands172133 to 309
  • Hires, thousands14796 to 287
  • Quits, thousands7146 to 114
  • Layoffs and discharges, thousands3725 to 513
  • Total separations, thousands11795 to 605

Each row is one measure of New Jersey over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

Right now

The unemployment rate in New Jersey was 4.2% in September 2026, ranking 19th highest of 51 among the states and the District of Columbia.

Over a year it is down 1.3 percentage points (ours). The rate for the United States was 4.2% in the same month. The source marks this value preliminary.

The unemployment rate in September 2026 was the lowest since March 2023.

See every measure with its value and rank

Jobs and payOurs: change and rank

Nonfarm payroll employment was 4,377.4 thousand in September 2026, up 0.1% over a year (ours), 11th highest of 51.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private payrolls was $39.32 in September 2026, up 2.4% over a year (ours), 10th highest of 51.

See the payrolls, hours and earnings

Job openings and turnoverOurs: change and rank

The job openings rate was 3.8% in December 2025, down 0.6 percentage points over a year (ours), 30th highest of 51.

The hires rate was 3.4% in December 2025, up 0.2 percentage points over a year (ours), 24th highest of 51.

The quits rate was 1.6% in December 2025, down 0.1 percentage points over a year (ours), 45th highest of 51.

See every openings and turnover figure

Understanding the labor market of New Jersey

Where it stands today

The unemployment rate in New Jersey was 4.2% in September 2026.

What do the figures for New Jersey measure?

This page gathers the labor market figures of New Jersey that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes: how many people are in the labor force, at work and unemployed, how many payroll jobs there are and what they pay, and how many jobs are open and how many people were hired, quit or lost a job.

Read more

The unemployment figures come from Local Area Unemployment Statistics, a model that BLS runs for each state every month. The payroll jobs, hours and earnings come from a monthly survey of employers, and the job openings and labor turnover from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

What 500metrics adds: each figure's rank among the fifty states and the District of Columbia, its change over a year, the last time it was higher and lower, the nation's figure beside a rate where BLS gives one, and the last ten years of every figure as small charts.

The numbers behind the chart

What are the latest figures for New Jersey?19 measures, each in its own newest month
New Jersey: the newest month of each measure, its change over a year (ours), its rank among the states and the District of Columbia, the nation's value and the last months it was higher and lower (ours)
MeasureSectionMonthValueChange over a yearRankUnited StatesLast higherLast lower
Unemployment rateUnemployment4.2%−1.3 pts19 of 514.2%
Participation rateUnemployment63.7%0.0 pts15 of 5161.8%
Employment-population ratioUnemployment61.0%+0.8 pts17 of 5159.2%
Labor forcePeople4,928.4 thousand+0.3%10 of 51n/anone since 1976
EmployedPeople4,719.3 thousand+1.6%10 of 51n/anone since 1976
UnemployedPeople209.1 thousand−22.6%8 of 51n/a
Nonfarm payrollsJobs and pay4,377.4 thousand+0.1%11 of 51n/a
Average hourly earningsJobs and pay$39.32+2.4%10 of 51n/a
Average weekly hoursJobs and pay33.9 hours+0.6%25 of 51n/a
Job openings rateOpenings and turnover rates3.8%−0.6 pts30 of 514.0%
Hires rateOpenings and turnover rates3.4%+0.2 pts24 of 513.3%
Quits rateOpenings and turnover rates1.6%−0.1 pts45 of 512.0%
Layoffs and discharges rateOpenings and turnover rates0.8%−0.8 pts39 of 511.1%
Total separations rateOpenings and turnover rates2.7%−0.8 pts47 of 513.3%
Job openingsOpenings and turnover172 thousand−13.6%12 of 51n/a
HiresOpenings and turnover147 thousand+6.5%10 of 51n/a
QuitsOpenings and turnover71 thousand−6.6%15 of 51n/a
Layoffs and dischargesOpenings and turnover37 thousand−47.9%15 of 51n/a
Total separationsOpenings and turnover117 thousand−24.5%15 of 51n/a

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What is the unemployment rate in each county of New Jersey?21 counties, September 2026, by name
New Jersey: the unemployment rate of each county in September 2026 and a year before, not seasonally adjusted (the change ours)
CountyRateA year beforeChange
Atlantic County4.8%6.8%−2.0 pts
Bergen County3.5%4.8%−1.3 pts
Burlington County3.8%5.4%−1.6 pts
Camden County4.5%6.3%−1.8 pts
Cape May County5.1%7.0%−1.9 pts
Cumberland County6.1%8.3%−2.2 pts
Essex County5.1%7.1%−2.0 pts
Gloucester County3.9%5.6%−1.7 pts
Hudson County3.8%5.3%−1.5 pts
Hunterdon County3.3%4.7%−1.4 pts
Mercer County4.2%5.9%−1.7 pts
Middlesex County4.2%5.8%−1.6 pts
Monmouth County3.7%5.1%−1.4 pts
Morris County3.5%4.8%−1.3 pts
Ocean County4.0%5.6%−1.6 pts
Passaic County4.7%6.5%−1.8 pts
Salem County5.1%7.2%−2.1 pts
Somerset County3.7%5.0%−1.3 pts
Sussex County3.7%5.2%−1.5 pts
Union County4.4%6.1%−1.7 pts
Warren County3.8%5.2%−1.4 pts
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The unemployment figures of a state are estimates from a model, not a count. BLS revises the latest months as more data arrive and revises the past years every March.
  • The payroll figures are estimates from a survey of employers. BLS revises them twice after the first release and once a year, when it benchmarks them to the count of jobs covered by unemployment insurance. Average hourly earnings and average weekly hours are for all employees on private payrolls and are not seasonally adjusted.
  • The state figures of job openings and labor turnover come from a survey whose estimates for a single state have a larger sampling error than the nation's. Each figure shows its own newest month, which can be older than the month of the unemployment rate.
  • A rank is among the fifty states and the District of Columbia in the same month, highest value first, and a large state ranks high on a count of people or jobs. The changes, the ranks and the months a figure was last higher and lower are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes.
  • The county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so each county's rate is set beside its own rate a year before.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Current Population Survey; State and Area Employment, Hours, and Earnings; Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey), labor market of New Jersey, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How is the job market in New Jersey?", https://500metrics.com/states/new-jersey.

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