How do you reach New Jersey Unemployment by phone?

The Division's phone lines split by job. Reemployment Call Centers take new claims, and a separate set of local numbers takes the weekly certifications that follow. Those local numbers are a courtesy for callers who are charged more for long distance, and they all ring through to the same place, so hanging up to try another one only moves you to the back of the line.

Which number to call

The North, Central, and South lines are the Reemployment Call Centers, and the out-of-state line works only from a phone with an out-of-state area code. All of them are open weekdays except holidays, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The last number reaches Money Network and My Banking Direct, which issues the prepaid benefits card, rather than the Department.

There is also an online form for questions, which replies with an automatically generated email from an address nobody reads. Password resets are handled by staff. Anything the reply does not answer means a phone call.

Temporary disability and family leave claims are run by a different division with its own phone line, on the disability page.

When a claims examiner calls you

If the Division needs more before it can decide your claim, it emails you a secure e-Adjudication form or sets up a phone appointment.

A claims examiner may call any weekday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. with no warning, and the call can show up as private, spam, or unknown, so answer it. If you are not ready to answer their questions, say so and they will agree a time with you. When an appointment is scheduled, stay available for 2 hours after the time on the notice, because delays happen.

To swap a phone appointment for the online form, or to put one off, call a Reemployment Call Center.

Getting help in person

One-Stop Career Centers are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Help with an unemployment claim there is by appointment, which you book through the Department's One-Stop page. Jobseekers need no appointment: the doors are open for walk-in career support.

The centers keep resource rooms stocked with public computers, telephones, internet access, copiers, and fax machines, and some have rooms where employers interview jobseekers. What the counselors there do for a job search sits on the jobs page.

One-Stop Career Centers by city

Below is the Department's own list, grouped by city, with each center's street address and, where the Department publishes one, its phone number. Most centers carry the name of the county or the area they serve rather than the town they sit in, so one name can appear twice: the Passaic centers are in Passaic and Paterson, and the Greater Raritan centers in Flemington and Somerville. The list gives no number for the East Orange and Paterson centers, so those show an address only; the claims lines above are the way to reach the Division by phone.