N.J. adds 4,600 jobs in March

New Jersey’s economy is showing signs of improvement as employers added more jobs last month.

According to the state Labor Department, employment is higher for a second straight month. Most of the 4,600 jobs added in March were in the private sector.

At the same time, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 9.3 percent.

Carl Van Horn, the director of the Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, said some residents who had been discouraged by previous attempts to find work are resuming their job search.

“They start hearing the good news that’s coming out of national labor reports and they decide to give it another go, or they may run out of other options that they’ve had and so they need to get a job,” said Van Horn.

While Labor Commissioner Hal Wirths said Thursday he anticipates the pace of job recovery will be slow, he said opportunities are increasing. He said the professional, scientific and technical services industries, which are among the higher-paying jobs, showed the most growth last month.