Newark Reporter

Essex County recorded an unemployment rate of 8.6% among residents aged 16 and 65 years old in 2021. That’s 37,993 people out of the 852,720 living in Essex County at the time, according to data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The unemployment rate in Essex County has increased compared to the 8% registered in 2020.

The percentage of people unemployed in Essex County was greater than the statewide unemployment rate of 6.2%.

Of the 404,946 people who had a job during that time, 246 were employed in the Armed Forces and 404,700 belonged to the civilian labor force.

Employment status	Number of people	Percentage of population
Unemployed	37,993	8.6%
Employed	404,946	91.4%
Employed in civilian labor force	404,700	91.4%
Employed in armed forces	246	0.1%