New Jersey’s unemployment rate drops 3% after July job gains

New Jersey continued to bounce back from its COVID-19-fuelled recession last month, regaining 129,900 new jobs on top of gains made in June and May.

The job gains dropped New Jersey’s unemployment rate to 13.8%, from 16.8% in June. The Department of Labor amended its June job figures, dropping the reported gains from 130,900 to 122,500.

Despite the private-sector increases, public-sector jobs continued to disappear last month, dropping by 16,800, with the majority of the losses, 12,300 jobs, concentrated at the local government level.