Employer-Paid

In New Jersey, industrial employment dropped 1.5 percent from December 2011 to December 2012, which is slightly under the 2.1 percent loss from the 2010-2011 time period.

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid barely changed last week, while the average over the past month fell to a fresh five-year low. The decline in layoffs is helping strengthen the job market.

Ohio employers are collectively owed $860 million after being overcharged for nearly a decade by the state insurance fund for injured workers, a Cleveland judge ruled Wednesday.

America's lower-income workers have posted the biggest job gains since the deep 2007-09 recession but few are bragging.

Hawaiian industrial employment held steady after only adding 20 jobs for a 0.5 percent gain between December 2011 and December 2012.

Unemployment rates increased in half of U.S. states in January from December, as employers nationwide added the fewest jobs in seven months.