After months of job loss, employ- ment growth has finally returned to the U.S. economy. The country gained 286,000 jobs between July and October 2003, but the total number of jobs is still 1.8 percent below the peak level reached in March 2001. New Jersey experienced strong employment growth between February and October 2003, and as of October, employment was only 5,300 jobs, or 0.1 percent, below the peak achieved in December 2000.  More importantly, it was 42,300 jobs above the low reached in February 2003. Overall, the state has performed considerably better than the nation in terms of job restoration during the recovery.

The R/ECON™ forecast indicates that employment will grow in New Jersey at an average annual rate of 1.1 percent (or 45,600 jobs) between 2002 and 2008. Although New Jersey emerged from the recent recession with less damage to its economy than that experienced by the coun- try as a whole, the state will experi- ence a weaker rebound from the recession. Employment growth in the United States will surpass growth in New Jersey beginning in 2005.