New Jersey’s unemployment rate fell to a record low last month, according to statistics released by the state Thursday.

The rate dropped to 3.5 percent in June, the lowest it’s been since the state began keeping records on jobs in 1976.

That figure is down from 3.8 percent in May and is below the national unemployment rate of 3.7 percent.

“That’s lower than when our economy was roaring in the 1980s,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during a news conference at Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick. “It’s lower than when we were riding on the dot com wave in the 1990s.”

“We’re on a journey,” Murphy added. “We’re digging out of an economic mess. But we’re clearly putting runs on the board.”

The Garden State added 10,200 jobs last month. That means there are nearly 4.3 million New Jerseyans working right now, Murphy said.

Most of the gains from May to June came in the private sector — 9,600 compared to 600 public jobs.

The biggest job increases last month came in professional and business services, trade, transportation and utilities, and manufacturing, according to the state Labor Department.

Overall, the state added 47,600 jobs from June 2018 to June 2019, according to the data, which is based on estimates produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The state’s private sector has added 410,900 jobs since February 2010, the lowest point of the Great Recession.

New Jersey’s unemployment rate has been cut by more than half since that time. It was about 10 percent when former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, took office in January 2010.

By the time Murphy, a Democrat, succeeded Christie in January 2018, it was 4.9 percent.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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