TRENTON — New Jersey’s unemployment rate climbed to a two-year high in June, pushing the state farther above the national average even though nearly 10,000 new jobs were added, the state labor department said today.
The state’s jobless rate rose from 9.2 percent to 9.6 percent, its biggest month-to-month spike in three years. New Jersey hasn’t been this far above the national average in more than three decades. The nation’s unemployment rate for June was 8.2 percent.
Christie administration officials said what matters is that New Jersey has gained 24,300 jobs in the last two months. The state is still shaking off its post-recession hangover, they said, and in the meantime the jobless rate is climbing because people who had given up on the job market are hunting for work again.
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