>N.J. private sector adds 4,000 jobs in Oct. as unemployment drops
New Jersey’s private sector added 4,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percentage points, to 9.1 percent, according to state officials.
Total employment rose by 2,500, as the public sector lost 1,500 jobs. The state’s private sector has added 38,600 in the nine months since January.
The state’s employment numbers also benefited from a revision in September’s jobs report. According to the revision, New Jersey lost 5,000 jobs, rather than the preliminary estimate of 11,100.
“That’s a significant improvement, certainly over 2010, and an indication that the state is making progress in the private sector,” said Joseph J. Seneca, an economist at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. “Now public-sector jobs have declined, but that’s by design.” (Kitchenman, NJBIZ)
