The local economy of New Jersey and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
4.3%
August 2026, 5.5% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,879
Q1 2026, 4,247,817 jobs
New homes permitted
31,546
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
-32,182
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for New Jersey, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for New Jersey is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in New Jersey was 4.3% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 5.5% a year earlier. 4,705,446 people were employed out of a labor force of 4,918,162. Among its counties, Hunterdon County had the lowest rate (3.7%) and Cumberland County the highest (7.4%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in New Jersey was $1,879 in Q1 2026, up 3.3% from a year earlier, across 4,247,817 jobs at 343,397 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 2,200 new homes in New Jersey in August 2026 (979 single-family and 1,056 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 20,527, down 3.3% from the same months last year, and 31,546 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Essex County (4,667), Hudson County (4,219), Bergen County (3,818) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 177,236 people moved to New Jersey and 209,418 moved away, a net loss of 32,182 (-4.3 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and most people who left went to New York, Florida, Pennsylvania.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for New Jersey. In its region, Central Atlantic, regular gasoline averaged $4.41 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.