Rutgers economist William Rodgers III (a former chief economist at the Department of Labor) and the Century Foundation’s Andrew Stettner built a model using these kinds of unemployment claims numbers to predict the unemployment rate. Plugging in the most recent claims data, they estimate a true unemployment rate in March of 17 percent. In some states, they find the unemployed share is far greater than that: 44.9 percent in Louisiana, 44.6 percent in New Hampshire, 34.6 percent in Pennsylvania.
New Jersey commuters face higher transportation costs in 2025
Commuting in the Garden State will become more expensive starting in 2025. On Jan. 1, tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway and the Atlantic City Expressway will rise 3%. That translates to a 16-cent increase for an average trip within the state....