Focus NJ: A Closer Look at NJ Unemployment

By Kyle Sullender, Executive Director of Focus NJ  On Jan 2, 2025

As of October 2024, the most recent data available at this writing, New Jersey has the sixth highest unemployment rate in the nation (4.7%).

To be clear, 4.7% unemployment is lower than any month recorded in the aftermath of the financial crisis from April 2008 until the end of 2016. However, aside from a brief period in 2022, New Jersey workers have experienced higher unemployment than the national average since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Since then, Focus NJ has periodically reviewed disparities among the unemployed, including race, gender, occupation, and education.

Race and Gender

Employment losses during the pandemic were greatest among women and Black/African American workers, according to a review of data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2023, disparities in unemployment had returned to pre-pandemic conditions. 

Overall, men were more likely to be unemployed than women (5.1% vs. 4.3%). Asian women experienced the lowest unemployment rate of any demographic group (3.7%), while Black/African American men experienced the highest rate (9.7%) and continued to experience unemployment at much higher rates than prior to the pandemic in 2019 (5.5%). 

Industry

Elevated levels of unemployed workers relative to the pre-pandemic period mean that total unemployment in most industries is slightly higher than previously. Most unemployed workers are in the management, professional and business services (29%). 

Unemployment in construction occupations has been stubbornly high in recent years and was higher in 2023 than prior to the pandemic or in the years since. In 2023, the unemployment rate among construction professionals was 9.2%, compared to 3.1% in 2019. For comparison, despite representing more total unemployed workers than any other single sector, the unemployment rate among professional and business services was just 2.8%. 

Educational Attainment

Unemployment is typically higher among those with lower educational attainment, and that continues to be the case. New Jersey workers with a high school diploma and no college experienced had a 6% unemployment rate in 2023 compared to just 3% for college graduates. 

Additionally, while 6% were unemployed, just 55% of high school graduates were actively employed, compared to roughly 73% of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. 

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