NJ Unemployment Rate Drops Sharply

A new government report shows New Jersey's unemployment rate fell by more than a half a percentage point to 7.8 percent in November as the state added nearly 17,000 jobs and 31,000 people stopped looking for work.

The state Labor Development says the .6 percentage point drop in the rate is the largest on record.

The numbers come from preliminary data released by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, which conducts two monthly surveys.

The generally more stable survey of employers shows the gain in total employment.

But a survey of households tells a different story. It says New Jersey added only 1,000 jobs over the month and many people were leaving the workforce.

The national unemployment rate for October was 7.3 percent.

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