Jobs are added in March in the Keystone State while they are lost in the Garden State.
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate dipped slightly in March as jobs were added, while New Jersey held steady despite a loss of jobs, according to figures released Thursday.Payrolls in Pennsylvania expanded in March by almost 8,000 jobs.
The state Department of Labor and Industry said the unemployment rate stood at 7.5 percent in March, down from 7.6 percent in February.
Unemployment in New Jersey held steady at 9 percent in March, despite the loss of 8,600 jobs.
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development says 11,600 jobs were lost at private employers in March, with professional and business services and construction seeing the largest losses.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's labor department estimated the number of nonfarm jobs grew by 7,800, bringing the total to almost 5.73 million.
The national unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in March. Over the past year, job growth nationally has been almost 1.5 percent, or twice the rate of Pennsylvania's.
Pennsylvania payrolls dropped below 5.6 million after the recession began in December 2007. Pennsylvania still has fewer jobs than it did in 2006 and remains below the peak of 5.8 million jobs in 2008.
In New Jersey, the public and information sectors saw the largest employment gains in March.
The state had experienced six straight months of private sector job growth prior to March. It added 7,000 jobs in February.
Data released Thursday show New Jersey has added 38,300 jobs since March 2011. And it's added 60,600 since February 2010, the low point of private sector employment during the recession.
There are 3.88 million people working in the state.