TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey lost more than 750,000 jobs in April because of the COVID-19 outbreak and the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 15.3%, the state labor department said Thursday.
The 757,700 lost jobs in April is a record, the department said in a statement. The rate jumped from 3.8% in March.
The virus led Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to shutter many businesses and order residents to stay home in late March. The hardest-hit sectors are leisure and hospitality, which lost about 237,000 jobs, followed by the trade and transportation and education sectors.
The state also had 42,000 new applications for jobless benefits last week, down from the roughly 70,000 claims the week before. In total, the state has had more than 1 million claims since outbreak began to ramp up in mid-March, according to the department.
So far, $3.4 billion has been paid out in jobless benefits.
The national unemployment rate reached 14.7% in April, the highest since the Great Depression.
A look at other coronavirus-related developments:
CASES
New Jersey reported 98 deaths overnight, bringing the death toll to 10,843, Murphy said, with about 1,300 new positive cases over the same time frame. That puts the number of positive cases at 151,000.
There were 286 people discharged from hospitals overnight, double the number of those being admitted, the governor said.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up within weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness or death.
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NJ GOP SUES MURPHY
The state Republican Party filed a lawsuit Thursday in state Superior Court in Cape May County seeking to overturn Murphy’s executive orders shuttering nonessential businesses.
State Party Chairman Doug Steinhardt says Murphy overreached arbitrarily when he singled out which businesses were considered nonessential.
GOP state Sen. Michael Testa, who is also an attorney, said during a video teleconference that the governor’s orders could mean the end of boardwalk shops, for instance, which aren’t currently permitted to open even as the unofficial start of summer arrives this weekend.
Murphy said at a news conference that he had no “insight” into the suit and declined to discuss it. His office said in an emailed statement that it would not comment on pending legislation.
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