New Jersey’s job market, which showed signs of life early this year, slumped in June, leaving the Garden State 36th in job growth nationwide, according to statistics released during the past week.
“I have a feeling this is that pattern of three steps forward, one step back,” said James W. Hughes, an economist and dean of theEdward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. “It’s not a smooth, even pattern of job growth.”