State economy heats up in 2016

New Jersey private sector employment increased by 60,800 jobs in 2016, the largest single annual gain since 2000, according to data released by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics during its Annual Benchmark process.
The job growth is four times higher than previously estimated by the BLS preliminary monthly surveys throughout 2016, and the new data shows private sector and total nonfarm job growth in New Jersey outpaced the national rate over the year from Jan. 2016 to Jan. 2017.
The benchmark report underscored a steady trend of private sector job growth in New Jersey over the past seven years. Since the recessionary low point of private sector employment in February 2010, the Garden State has added 313,100 private sector jobs, 65,000 more jobs than pre-recession levels. New Jersey has regained all total nonfarm and private sector jobs lost in the Great Recession.
The job growth has continued into 2017, according to preliminary monthly data released by the BLS showing the addition of 14,600 new private sector jobs in January and a drop in the unemployment rate to 4.6 percent, which is below the national average of 4.8 percent.
“We always thought that job growth in 2016 was stronger than was being reported. Now that the benchmark revisions are out we know that it was four times greater. We expect strong job growth to continue through 2017 and 2018 as the country and the State enter a renewed period of more vigorous economic growth,” said James Wooster, Chief Economist for the New Jersey Department of the Treasury. “We further expect job growth in the Garden State to be supplemented by improvements in the quality of jobs as people continue to shift from part-time to full-time employment and to climb the career ladder more rapidly.”
Annual Benchmark revisions also showed New Jersey’s unemployment rate averaged 5 percent in 2016, down from 5.8 percent in 2015 and on par with the national average of 4.9 percent for 2016. The January preliminary estimates also showed New Jersey’s labor force participation rate, which measures the number of people employed or actively seeking work, continuing to surpass the national rate, 63.5 percent to 62.9 percent.