JERSEY CITY -- New Jersey's second largest city continues to outpace the county, state and nation in reducing unemployment, U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics indicate.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop is touting a 4.1 percentage point reduction in unemployment since taking office July 1, 2013. The city's unemployment rate at the time was 10.6 percent, but is now down to 6.5 percent -- the most dramatic drop in Hudson County over that time period -- according to preliminary Bureau of Labor data from December 2014.

"We had a plan when we took office and we have put a great deal of focus on job creation. This is strong independent validation that we are doing it better than anyone," Fulop said in a statement.

The statistics, which were released last week by the Bureau of Labor, show Hudson County's unemployment rate dropped in the last 18 months from 9.7 percent to 6.2 percent, well below the state's highest rate -- 12.7 percent -- in Cape May County.

At 4.1 percent, Hunterdon County has New Jersey's lowest unemployment rate.

Since July 2013, New Jersey's rate dropped 2.9 percentage points while the nation's unemployment rate dropped 2.4 percentage points in that span.

Jersey City has slightly outpaced Newark in unemployment reduction since July 2013. At the time, the state's largest city had an unemployment rate of 13.8 percent, but now has that figure down to 9.8 percent. However, New Jersey's third largest city, Paterson, saw a 4.2 percent drop in unemployment, going from 14.9 percent in July 2013 to 10.7 percent at the beginning of this year.

Meanwhile, Jersey City has added more than 9,000 new jobs since Fulop took office, ranging from new small businesses to construction jobs to corporate jobs, according to a City Hall press release.

City officials tie the reduction in unemployment and uptick in job creation to the three primary areas of focus: attracting construction jobs, an unprecedented investment in small business and a $1.2 million marketing campaign aimed to attract new businesses and residential development to Jersey City.

City officials said there are currently 6,000 units under construction and another 18,000 units that are approved. Meanwhile, according to certificates of occupancy issued by the Building Department, nearly 150 new small businesses have opened in the past 18 months in Jersey City, including 50 restaurants.

Elsewhere in Hudson County, Bayonne saw a 3.8 percent drop in unemployment from July 2013 to January of this year, dipping from 10.3 percent to 6.5 percent. Hoboken currently sports the lowest unemployment rate in Hudson County at 2.7 percent.

"The dramatic drop in Jersey City's unemployment rate is highly encouraging. It signals that we're on the right track and that the city, which is actively leading new employment initiatives, will continue to be an economic driver for New Jersey," said Maria Nieves, president and CEO of the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce.

"This is positive news for members of the Chamber, whose businesses are reliant on the strength of local consumer demand," she added.