According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provisional estimates, in July 2003 the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force in New Jersey numbered 4,442,200, with approximately 271,000 workers unemployed, yielding an unemployment rate of 6.1%, compared to the national average of 6.2% for the same period. Since the beginning of the BLS data series in 1978, the highest unemployment rate recorded was 9.4% in May 1992. The historical low was 3.4% in February 2001. In 2001, an estimated 4.8% of the labor force was employed in construction; 13.0% in manufacturing; 7.4% in transportation, communications, and public utilities; 18.2% in trade; 8.6% in finance, insurance, and real estate; 28.1% in services; 13.4% in government; and 0.8% in agriculture.
Although migrant workers are still employed at south Jersey tomato farms and fruit orchards, the number of farm workers coming into the state is declining with the increased use of mechanical harvesters.
The state's first child labor law was passed in 1851, and in 1886, workers were given the right to organize. Labor's gains were slow and painful, however. In Paterson, no fewer than 137 strikes were called between 1881 and 1900, every one of them a failure. A 1913 strike of Paterson silkworkers drew nationwide headlines but, again, few results. Other notable strikes were a walkout at a Carteret fertilizer factory in 1915, during which six picketers were killed by guards; a yearlong work stoppage by Passaic textile workers in 1926; and another Paterson silkworkers' strike in 1933, this one finally leading to union recognition and significant wage increases. That year, the state enacted a law setting minimum wages and maximum hours for women. This measure was repealed in 1971, in line with the trend toward nonpreferential labor standards.
The US Department of Labor reported that in 2002, 749,000 of New Jersey's 3,870,000 employed wage and salary workers were members of unions. This represented 19.4% of those so employed, down slightly from 19.5% in 2001. The national average is 13.2%. In all, 799,000 workers (20.6%) were represented by unions. In addition to union members, this category includes workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract.