
The Garden State continues to get some promising news on jobs and employment. despite the nation’s somewhat sour outlook on the greater economic picture.
According to the state’s Department of Labor, New Jersey added 5,600 non-farm payroll jobs in April. The private sector accounted for 5,500 of the new jobs, with the state’s seasonally adjusted employment level reaching 4,384,500 nonfarm jobs.
Since the beginning of the year, the state’s private sector has added 8,500 jobs. The top fields for gains have been in professional and business services, which added 5,900 jobs to the landscape. Private education and health services saw gains of 2,600 jobs.
Some industries have experienced job losses in New Jersey since the start of the year. The top losers include the leisure and hospitality industry, which shed 3,300 jobs, and construction, which lost about 1,500 jobs.
The state’s unemployment rate dropped in April to 4.8%, a tick higher than the national average rate of 4.3%. That number reflects the latest data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also for April.
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