Four New Jersey cities advanced to the next round of consideration to receive the state's backing to apply to become the home to Amazon's second headquarters, ROI-NJ.com reported Wednesday.

The cities -- Newark, Jersey City, New Brunswick and Camden -- lead the approximately 20 locations that sent proposals to state officials and have been asked to provide more information about their applications by the end of the week, an unnamed official told ROI-NJ.com, a business-focused news site.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority will vet the applications and pass them to Gov. Chris Christie, who could put forward one or a mix of locations for consideration by Amazon, according to the report.

New Jersey municipalities may still apply to Amazon directly without the state's official blessing. An EDA representative could not be immediately reached Wednesday night to comment on the report.

Officials across North America are vying to become the second home for the Seattle-based online giant.

Called "HQ2," Amazon's second headquarters is expected to bring as many as 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in spending to the area it selects.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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