Service sector employment in North Jersey and the larger New York City metro area fell for the seventh month in a row, and the state workforce has shed nearly 4,000 jobs so far this year, according to data released March 17 by the New York Federal Reserve.
The numbers looked at service firms — essentially white collar jobs — across North Jersey, New York City and southwestern Connecticut, which make up the New York metro area.
All told, the number of service sector employees in the region was its lowest since 2021, when the nation emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown and business restrictions…
Impacts of Iran war yet to be factored in
The Iran War was still in its early stages when the poll was conducted — March 2 to 9 — so the conflict and its impact on gas prices might not have played as large a role as today, said Will Irving, an economics researcher at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
“Many probably were not at that time yet factoring in the full impact of a longer and broader conflict — so the expectation of moderate improvement over the next six months could prove optimistic,” he wrote in an email.
NorthJersey.com, March 18, 2026