The Bureau of Labor Statistics released unemployment rates in all 50 states today, showing New Jersey maintains the fourth highest rate in the nation.
Preliminary numbers released today show only Nevada (12.1), Rhode Island (10.7) and California (10.1) maintain higher jobless rates than New Jersey, which hit 9.9 percent in August.
But while New Jersey’s rate of unemployment has risen a half of a percent since August 2011, the state has added the eighth highest job total in the nation at 51,400 new jobs over that span.
Thursday, the Christie Administration cast doubt on the methodology behind the unemployment data, saying the rising rate did not jibe with other economic statistics. Last month, officials in Connecticut and New York City cast similar doubts. But a private economist dismissed the criticisms, saying it amounted to little more than the normal political response to bad news.
