TRENTON - Seasonal hiring helped the July employment picture in shore counties, but Cumberland County lost 1,500 jobs, pushing its jobless rate to 13 percent from 12.1 percent.
Data from the N.J. Department of Labor and Workforce Development on Tuesday showed 2,800 jobs were added from June to July in Atlantic County, although its unemployment rate remained at 11.8 percent as 3,300 more people looked for work.
Cape May County, even richer in seasonal tourism employment, added 3,100 jobs in July, dropping its jobless rate to 8 percent from 8.5 percent despite an increase of 2,900 in people available to work.
Ocean County, whose economy is more diversified, saw a more modest gain of 300 jobs in the month, leaving its unemployment rate at 9.2 percent.
Seasonal variations in employment are particularly large in the summer tourist months, as a comparison of state figures shows.
Last week, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that New Jersey added 5,900 jobs in July on a seasonally adjusted basis - in other words, taking into account that some temporary jobs will be created at this time of year and not counting them.
The unadjusted state figures for the same period show 20,400 jobs were added in July, so more than two-thirds of jobs added during the month are not considered newly created, permanent positions.
