New Jersey’s unemployment rate is now in the double digits. The state’s jobless rate rose to 10.2% in November, which is above the national unemployment rate. While the state’s economy is creating new jobs every month, there’s just not enough of them to provide work for all the residents who lost their jobs this year. In fact the state has only regained about 58% of the jobs that evaporated after the pandemic took hold. And each and every week, thousands of additional New Jersey workers file for unemployment. In the latest week alone, more than 16,000 new claims were filed.
The big worry here and elsewhere is the impending loss of federal unemployment benefits that were part of the CARES Act. Those programs expire at the end of the month, unless Congress agrees to renew them. The state labor department is continuing to process claims under federal programs while they’re still available. It’s getting ready to process another round of the $300-a-week in FEMA Lost Wages Assistance and says those benefits will reach recipients before Christmas.
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout in New Jersey is currently limited to health care workers, but what happens when the vaccine is more widely available? Businesses have just received guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on whether or not they can require their employees to get COVID-19 vaccines. Labor attorney Michael Schmidt, with the firm Cozen O’Connor, says the EEOC has taken the position that employers, at least for purposes of workplace anti-discrimination laws, can require employees to be vaccinated in order to come into the workplace. But there are exceptions: A worker could say they don’t want a vaccine due to health or religious reasons. Schmidt says he expects more guidance will be forthcoming as there are still many questions about how COVID-19 vaccines will be handled in the workplace.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is now accepting applications for a new program aimed at supporting restaurants and communities. The Sustain and Serve program allows nonprofits to apply for grants to purchase restaurant meals in bulk and provide those meals to people in need.
