Gov. Mikie Sherrill called September’s national employment report a “bust” under President Donald Trump, while New Jersey’s own payroll figures show several months of job losses and roughly 21,000 fewer jobs through August than when the year began.
TRENTON, NJ — Gov. Mikie Sherrill blasted President Donald Trump after the latest national jobs report showed hiring slowing sharply in September.
“The numbers are in, and it’s another stunningly bad jobs report under Donald Trump,” Sherrill said.
“Just 29,000 jobs were added in September, unemployment rose to 4.2%, and we learned that 60,000 fewer jobs were created in July and August than previously reported.”
The first part of Sherrill’s statement tracks the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report: payrolls rose by 29,000 in September, while July was revised from a gain of 21,000 to a loss of 10,000 and August was cut from 162,000 to 133,000. Together, the July and August revisions erased 60,000 jobs from the previous estimates. Bureau of Labor Statistics
But Sherrill’s criticism of Washington comes as New Jersey has posted its own uneven — and at times sharply negative — employment numbers since she became governor.
New Jersey Has Had Three Losing Months Since January
Sherrill took office Jan. 20.
The first full set of 2026 New Jersey payroll figures shows an economy that gained jobs early in the year, stalled in late spring and then fell sharply during the summer.
Using the latest revised state figures available through August:
| Month | U.S. payroll change | New Jersey payroll change |
|---|---|---|
| January | +126,000 | +3,500 |
| February | -133,000 | -8,200 |
| March | +214,000 | +3,100 |
| April | +179,000 | +7,100 |
| May | +172,000 | +1,400 |
| June | +57,000 | -4,200 |
| July | -10,000 | -21,900 |
| August | +133,000 | -1,700 |
| September | +29,000 | Not yet released |
New Jersey’s September employment report is scheduled for Oct. 15, so there is not yet a state number that can be compared directly with September’s national report.
The latest New Jersey Department of Labor figures show the state lost 21,900 jobs in July and another 1,700 in August. NJ.gov
New Jersey Is Down Roughly 21,000 Jobs Through August
Adding the latest revised monthly figures from January through August leaves New Jersey down about 20,900 payroll jobs for the year so far.
The slide was not steady.
New Jersey added jobs in January, March, April and May. February was negative. June then slipped into the red before the much larger July loss and another decline in August.
July was initially reported as a 25,600-job loss. State labor officials later revised that to 21,900 and cautioned that the original decline was probably overstated because of seasonal-adjustment problems and a lower-than-expected survey response rate.
Even after the revision, July remained by far the state’s weakest month of 2026.
Sherrill’s Own Labor Department Has Reported Repeated Weakness
New Jersey lost 8,200 jobs in February after revision.
The state recovered 3,100 in March and 7,100 in April.
May added only 1,400 after revision.
June lost 4,200.
Then came the 21,900-job decline in July and another 1,700 jobs lost in August.
By August, New Jersey had 9,900 fewer nonfarm jobs than it did one year earlier. Private-sector employment was down 13,100 over the same 12-month period. NJ.gov
The weakness has hit several industries.
Professional and business services were down 7,700 jobs year over year in August. Trade, transportation and utilities were down 7,200. Leisure and hospitality had lost 6,100, while construction, information, financial activities and manufacturing were also below year-earlier levels.
Education and health services remained the major exception, adding 22,900 jobs over the year.
National Economy Has Also Slowed Sharply
Sherrill is on firmer ground when she says national hiring has deteriorated.
The year began with 126,000 jobs added nationally in January. February then lost 133,000 before hiring rebounded in March, April and May.
The pace dropped to 57,000 in June.
July is now estimated to have lost 10,000 jobs. August added 133,000 after a substantial downward revision, and September produced just 29,000.
The September BLS report said national payroll growth averaged only 45,000 per month over the preceding 12 months. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Sherrill seized on those figures.
“Trump promised an economic boom,” she said. “Instead, it’s a bust.”
She went further, accusing the president and his family of profiting from cryptocurrency while “New Jersey families pay the price.”
New Jersey’s Numbers Don’t Follow the Same Pattern
The state and national pictures overlap in some months but diverge sharply in others.
In April, the United States added 179,000 jobs while New Jersey gained 7,100.
In May, the country added 172,000 while New Jersey added only 1,400.
In June, national payrolls grew by 57,000 while New Jersey lost 4,200.
July was weak in both places, but New Jersey’s 21,900-job decline was much more severe relative to the size of its workforce.
August moved in opposite directions: the nation added 133,000 jobs while New Jersey lost 1,700.
Those figures complicate attempts by either side to pin every monthly movement on one elected official. The national data cover the entire country, while New Jersey’s figures reflect state-specific industries, population trends, business decisions and regional conditions as well as federal policy.
New Jersey Unemployment Has Actually Fallen
There is another part of the state employment picture that does not fit neatly into a simple jobs-loss narrative.
New Jersey’s unemployment rate fell from 5.2% in January to 4.3% in August.
The national unemployment rate was 4.3% in January and stood at 4.2% in September.
Payroll employment and the unemployment rate come from separate federal surveys, so they can move in different directions. A falling unemployment rate can occur even while payrolls decline if the labor force changes or fewer people are actively looking for work.
New Jersey nevertheless spent much of the year with an unemployment rate above the national rate.
Republicans Have Been Making the Same Comparison
New Jersey Republicans have increasingly used the state’s employment reports to challenge Sherrill’s focus on Trump.
The New Jersey Senate Republican caucus recently pointed to the July losses while highlighting corporate relocations and layoffs involving Burlington, ExxonMobil, Samsung and other employers.
Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods is also closing its Elmwood Park manufacturing operation and moving production to Kentucky, eliminating 168 New Jersey jobs while maintaining a smaller corporate presence in the state.
The political argument is now running on two tracks.
Sherrill points to slowing national job growth and blames Trump’s economic policies.
Republicans point to New Jersey job losses, companies reducing their presence in the state and months when New Jersey performed worse than the national economy.
The numbers show problems in both places.
National hiring has slowed sharply.
New Jersey, meanwhile, entered the fall with fewer payroll jobs than it had at the beginning of Sherrill’s first year — and September’s state numbers have yet to arrive.
