New Jersey’s employment growth sputtered in October with the creation of just 200 new private-sector jobs, leaving business employment essentially flat for the month.

Although the total employment in New Jersey grew by 1,400 jobs in October, most of this growth came in the public sector, where 1,200 government jobs were added, according to the monthly employment report issued today by the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development.  The report included revised data for earlier months.

“The addition of 1,200 taxpayer-supported jobs in October far surpassed the addition of 200 private-sector jobs,” said NJBIA President Philip Kirschner.  “We would hope to see the creation of more private-sector jobs in the months ahead. This is vital for the health of the State economy.”

For the last three months, New Jersey has gained just 5,700 private-sector jobs: none in August, 5,500 in September, and 200 in October. In the first ten months of the year, private-sector employers have added a total of 18,100 jobs, putting the state on track to add even fewer jobs in 2007 than it did in 2006 (which saw the addition of 27,000 jobs).

The state’s unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent in October, down from 4.3 percent in September. This is lower than the national rate of 4.7 percent.  The state’s employment-growth rates and unemployment rates frequently move in opposite directions during periods of transition in the economic cycle. This is because they are based on two different surveys: one, a survey of employers, the other, a survey of households.  Economists consider the best indicator of an economy’s health to be the rate at which it creates new jobs in the private sector.

In October, the largest private-sector employment gains occurred in the professional and business services (+2,400) and education and health services (+1,000) sectors. This gains were largely offset by declines in leisure and hospitality (-1,200), trade, transportation and utilities (-1,200), manufacturing (-700) and financial activities (-500).