New Jersey’s unemployment rate fell below 9 percent for the first time in nearly four years last month, the state Labor Department announced today. The rate dropped to 8.7 percent in April, the lowest its been since 2009, according to preliminary data in the latest state jobs report.

New Jersey’s unemployment rate fell again in April to 8.7 percent, the lowest it’s been in four years, the state Department of Labor said Thursday.

New Jersey’s unemployment rate in April dipped to 8.7 percent — its lowest level in four years, though still 1.2 percentage points higher than the national average.

Gov. Chris Christie got a double dose of good news this week, as New Jersey’s April unemployment rate dipped below 9 percent for the first time in four years and state revenue collections met his Treasury Department’s revised targets.

The state Economic Development Authority awarded $698 million in tax incentives, grants and loans to 228 projects last year, according to a year-end summary released today by the agency tasked with spurring economic growth in New Jersey.

A report released today by N.J. Policy Perspective estimates that more than 400,000 low-paid workers would reap benefits of the higher wage, that it would spur more than $174 million in economic growth, and help create more than 1,500 new full-time jobs.

A new study finds more than 400 thousand low-paid workers in the Garden State would benefit from a ballot measure that would raise New Jersey’s minimum wage by one dollar, to $8.25 per hour.

Under newly proposed legislation, New Jersey could join Connecticut and a handful of cities around the country in setting minimum paid sick-day standards for private-sector employers.

Nearly half a million New Jerseyans stand to gain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act — unless they never hear about it. That’s become a pressing issue for healthcare advocates who have expressed concern that the state – by opting for a federally run health insurance exchange or marketplace — may end up with not enough money to reach the target audience.

A massive overhaul of New Jersey’s corporate incentive programs under way in Trenton would dramatically change the rules under which corporate tax breaks are awarded.