N.J. reports 36,300 jobs lost last month
New Jersey added a minuscule 10,100 jobs in 2013 after losing more than 36,000 jobs in December — the biggest single-month job loss in 23 years — painting a bleak picture of the state economy and raising questions about its health and direction.
The jarring December figures released Thursday, which economists cautioned may be a statistical blip, translate to a .26 percent job gain for the year, and represent a sharp reversal from the slow-but-steady job increases of recent months that suggested a slight strengthening of the economy after a weak summer.
The December drop of 36,300 jobs — 33,200 private and 3,100 public — was so broad-based that economists said it was difficult to pinpoint a particular reason. They offered several possible explanations, including unusually cold weather, which could explain the loss of 6,500 construction jobs, and could have caused the temporary loss of work for day and freelance workers.
Economists noted, however, that the figures for the entire year will be revised in March, a process that has in the past resulted in some significant changes in monthly totals. (Morley/The Record)
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