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New Jersey continued its modest employment expansion in September, adding 4,600 private-sector jobs and bringing its string of consecutive months of employment gains (or no losses) to five.

In the first nine months of this year, New Jersey’s private-sector employers have added 17,000 jobs to their payrolls.  This is according to preliminary data released today by the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

 “We are encouraged that New Jersey businesses are continuing to expand their payrolls, albeit modestly, in the face of challenging economic conditions,” said NJBIA Vice President Philip Kirschner. “However, the growth is uneven, and we remain concerned about the ongoing loss of manufacturing jobs.”

Manufacturers have lost 3,800 jobs in New Jersey so far this year, bringing total employment in that sector to 316,900. Since December 2000, manufacturing has lost 105,100 jobs, a 25 percent decline.

The construction industry added 600 jobs last month, cutting its total loss for the year to 400. Meanwhile the private-sector services sector has added 21,300 jobs since the start of the year, a gain of 0.7 percent. Total service-sector employment has now reached a record 2,959,500. (See Table.)

New Jersey’s rate of private-sector job growth remains weak, however, when compared with the nation as a whole and the State’s own historical growth rates.  In the first nine months of 2007, the nation added 908,000 private-sector jobs, a gain of 0.8 percent. In the same period, New Jersey added 17,000 private-sector jobs, a gain of 0.5 percent. 

Since the start of the current expansion in 2003, New Jersey has added an average of about 23,100 new private-sector jobs on an annualized basis.  This remains well below the average of about 70,000 added annually in the expansions of the 1980s and 1990s, and it is about half of the State’s long-term post WWII average.

Regional economists and business groups, including NJBIA, say there is a great deal of evidence, supported by national surveys, that the high cost of doing business in New Jersey is putting a damper on business expansion and job growth.

If you have any questions about NJ Employment Watch, please call at 609-393-7707, ext. 227.

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