New Jersey’s statewide unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in September; the state will report its October jobless rate Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Labor already has reported the nation’s jobless rate hit 10.2 percent last month.

In September, the jobless rate varied widely across county lines, according to federal figures. On the high side were Passaic, at 11.7 percent; Hudson, 11.6 percent; and Essex, 11.1 percent.

Following are other New Jersey unemployment rates by county for September: Morris, 7.6 percent; Somerset, 7.9 percent; Bergen, 8.4 percent; Sussex, 8.5 percent; Monmouth, 8.7 percent; Middlesex, 9.2 percent; Ocean, 9.6 percent; and Union, 9.8 percent.

The Bronx, with a jobless rate of 13.3 percent, was the highest of the 23 counties in the New York area, according to the report.

E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com

The credit union released its survey results the same day professional services firm Deloitte LLP, in New York, released its 24th annual survey of holiday trends. The Deloitte survey projected decreased spending on gifts, though spending on furnishings, entertainment and non-gift clothing were expected to increase.

Of the 115 responding Affinity credit union members, 59 percent plan to buy gifts with cash, or mostly use cash, this holiday season; furthermore, 82 percent of the responders plan to spend less this year.

Some 60 percent of responders said they plan to shop online and at discounts stores, while 20 percent plan to make their holiday purchases at malls and department stores.

Deloitte’s survey also forecasts decreased spending expected on gifts, with consumers in the tristate area planning to spend an average of $528, down 19 percent from $650 in the year-ago holiday season. Nationwide, gift spending is expected to decline to $452, down from $532 a year ago.

Deloitte’s survey of 10,878 consumers across the country included 602 responders from the tristate area, and found 48 of responders nationwide planned to shop online, 41 percent planned to shop discount stores and 34 percent planned to shop at toy stores. The survey was conducted from Sept. 24 though Oct. 2.

E-mail João-Pierre Ruth at jpruth@njbiz.com

Follow me on Twitter @jpruth

All hearings will begin at 4 p.m., and will be held Dec. 8 at the Cherry Hill Municipal Building; Dec. 10 at the Board of Public Utilities, in Newark; and Dec. 22 at the Middlesex County Administration Building, in New Brunswick. The public comment period will extend from Dec. 8 to Jan. 22.

E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com

Harvard University classmates Alfa Demmellash and Alex Forrester founded Rising Tide in 2004. Demmellash emigrated to the United States from Ethiopia as a child, while Forrester is the son of Douglas Forrester, the Republican candidate who unsuccessfully ran for governor of New Jersey in 2005 against Jon S. Corzine. Since its founding, Rising Tide has worked with 250 entrepreneurs.

The SBA grant comes from the agency’s Program for Investment in Micro Entrepreneurs. SBA District Director Jim Kocsi said the money will enable low- and very-low-income entrepreneurs to receive training and technical assistance to start, operate and grow their businesses.

The grant will be presented to Rising Tide at a Nov. 16 event, at 6:30 p.m., at New Jersey City University’s Gilligan Student Union Building.

“Our mission focuses on individuals whose combined household income is less than 80 percent of the local median family income,” Demmellash said. “Our community partnerships and grassroots methodology allow us to target our services to women, minorities, unemployed and working poor, and those who have been formerly incarcerated. This SBA grant will go a long way in helping us to continue that work by providing training and technical assistance to disadvantaged micro entrepreneurs.”

Demmellash said she was separated from her mother for 10 years after her mother came to the United States, where she worked two jobs to earn enough money to bring her daughter here. At age 12, Demmellash joined her mother in Boston. She said it bothered her to see her mother work extremely long and hard hours while receiving only a modest income — which “was, and remains, the impetus for Rising Tide Capital,” Demmellash said.

Kocsi said Rising Tide will have the option to receive $100,000 per year over the next four years, for a total of $500,000.

E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com

Smarter Agent’s apps — Homes for Sale, Recently Sold Homes and Apartments for Rent — provide information on residential real estate based on the user’s physical location. Using the wireless phone’s GPS, the apps can retrieve such data as the price of recently sold homes near where the user is standing. The app can also provide listings of apartments for rent and homes up for sale.

The app was already available through AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile wireless services.

E-mail João-Pierre Ruth at jpruth@njbiz.com

Follow me on Twitter @jpruth

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