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New Jersey's Unemployment Rate Sees Largest Drop In 35 Years

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Jobs are growing quickly in the Garden State.

New numbers from the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday show that New Jersey added 16,900 jobs in November.

This sent the unemployment rate plunging to 7.8 percent from 8.4 percent in October.

The drop  is the largest in the 35 years that monthly records have been kept, according to the report.

Also, since November 2012, New Jersey's unemployment rate has gone down by 1.8 percent -- the largest yearly drop in three decades.

Here are other highlights from the jobs report:

The new unemployment rate is at its lowest point in nearly five years – since January 2009 when it stood at 7.4 percent.

More than 70,000 total jobs were added to New Jersey's economy over the last 12 months, including 64,400 private sector jobs.

Total non-farm employment reached a five-year high last month of 3,978,600.

New Jersey has created 155,600 private sector jobs since February 2010, which marked the low point of the recession and Gov. Chris Christie's first full month in office.

New Jersey's state personal income set a new record high in the third quarter of 2013.  For the first time ever, the number surpassed $500 billion.

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