New Jersey unemployment rate drops to 5.9 percent

TRENTON (AP) — New Jersey's July unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since September 2008 to 5.9 percent.

New Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released Thursday show the state's the rate has fallen 0.2 percentage points compared with last month.

Despite the lower rate New Jersey's economy contracted by almost 14,000 jobs in July.

The state's labor participation rate also dropped slightly in July to 63.9 percent, down from 64.1 percent in June. That's above the national rate of 62.6 percent.

New Jersey added roughly 20,000 jobs from July 2014 through July 2015.

The report comes as Gov. Chris Christie seeks the Republican presidential nominations.

It's the last jobs report before the next presidential debate on Sept. 16.

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