New Jersey unemployment drops, employers finding job candidates at faster rate

(The Center Square) — New Jersey employers are doing better than most when it comes to hiring.

Delays in service and reduced business hours are becoming commonplace nationwide. According to a study by WalletHub released Wednesday, in terms of struggling the most, New Jersey ranked in a tie for No. 43 among all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The personal finance website used data obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to arrive at its findings via two metrics: Rate of job openings for the latest month, and for the last 12 months. The latest month was weighted double, or 66.67 points of scale, and last 12 months was full weight, or 33.33 points of scale.

New Jersey’s job openings rate is 6.2% for latest month, and 6.47% for last 12 months.

Toughest places for employers to hire are Alaska, Georgia, Kentucky, Vermont and West Virginia, respectively. From No. 51 back up to the Garden State and its tie with Oregon, Washington is having the least amount of struggle, followed by New York, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Utah, Florida and California.

Miren Ivankovic, an adjunct professor of economics in the Powers College of Business at Clemson University, said, "Shortage of labor means that this will place an upward pressure on the wages, which sounds great for the members of the labor force. However, increasing wages during current inflationary times is not a welcome event. This can accelerate current inflation and practically reduce real incomes."

New Jersey’s unemployment rate dropped from 5.1% in January to 3.9% in June.