Star Ledger – New Jersey Gains More Than 30,000 Jobs, largest Monthly spike in years
January 21, 2013TRENTON — More than 30,000 New Jerseyans found jobs last month in the biggest hiring spree since federal officials began keeping track of the figures in 1990, the state Labor Department reported today.
In a bright spot after months of sluggish economic growth and job losses from Hurricane Sandy, the state’s unemployment rate inched down to 9.6 percent in December from 9.7 percent in November, officials said.
The monthly report showed employers added 30,200 workers to their payrolls, with gains spread across all of the state’s major industries.
For Gov. Chris Christie, December was a “historic month” that validated his economic policies, although Democrats played down the jobs gains and insisted the state’s overall economy was still suffering.
