NJ jobless rate inched up to 6.6 percent in October

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Labor Department reports unemployment in the state inched up in October to 6.6 percent.

Preliminary estimates put job losses for the month at 4,500, about evenly split between the public and private sectors.

The jobless rate had dipped to 6.5 percent in September as hiring picked up, with revised figures showing a gain of 3,000 jobs that month.

The state says the industries showing the greatest job gains in October were financial services, and the education and health care sector. The biggest losses were reported in construction and business services.

Nationally, the unemployment rate in October was 5.8 percent, a six-year low.

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