NJ HAD NATION’S THIRD HIGHEST JOB ADDITION IN MAY
By Hugh R. Morley/The Record
June 16, 2012
* Governor says rising employment figures are proof of state’s ‘comeback.’
New Jersey added more jobs in May than all but two other states, yet had the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the nation, according to figures released Friday.
The state’s addition of 17,600 jobs, New Jersey’s largest monthly rise in seven years, was bigger than every state but California, which gained 33,900, and Ohio, which added 19,600, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
The state jobless rate, which rose to 9.2 percent from 9.1 percent in April, was higher than all states except North Carolina, California, Rhode Island and Nevada, which had a rate of 11.6 percent — the highest in the nation, bureau figures show. The national rate is 8.2 percent.
The increase in New Jersey’s employment figures, released Thursday, was hailed by Governor Christie as a sign his economic and job-creating policies are working, and the state “comeback” that he promotes is on track.
