NJ Job Cuts Surging As 2,400 Layoffs Announced In July

New Jersey has logged nearly 12,000 layoff notices so far in 2026, about 3,500 more than the same period last year, with July alone accounting for over 2,400 cuts. The biggest hits this month come from Samsung (relocating its HQ to Texas), Verizon, Mars Wrigley (closing its Newark office for Chicago), and Novartis, which together are eliminating roughly 1,650 jobs by mid-October. The state’s unemployment rate currently sits at 4.5 percent, three-tenths of a point above the national rate.