Slight Uptick in Local Unemployment

Belleville’s monthly unemployment rate ticked up slightly in February, according to figures just released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rate in February -- the most recent month for which figures are available -- was 11.4 percent, up from 11.2 percent the month before. There were 18,034 Belleville residents in the workforce, defined as those who are employed or who are  actively seeking work. Of those, 15,972 were employed and 2,062 were looking for jobs.

Year-on-year, the unemployment rate in Belleville and throughout the area continued a slow decline. In February 2010, 12.1 percent of the workforce was unemployed. This trend was also seen at the county level: 11.1 percent of the Essex workforce was unemployed this past February, versus a rate of 11.4 percent a year earlier.

Both the county and Belleville rates remain high compared with the state average, however. New Jersey had a reported unemployment rate of 9.2 percent in February 2011.