New N.J. unemployment claims continue to drop Updated Feb 25, 2021; The number of New Jersey workers applying for unemployment continued to fall last week, reaching the lowest weekly total since the middle of March, according to the state labor department. A total of 10,776 workers submitted new benefit claims In the week ending Feb. 19. More than 2 million workers in the Garden State have sought unemployment benefits since March, when Gov. Phil Murphy first ordered the state effectively shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus. New Jersey’s unemployment rate stood at 7.6% in December, a number the Department of Labor and Workforce Development said would be higher but for people leaving the workforce altogether. By December, the state had recovered about 60% of jobs lost during the pandemic and was seeing a slowdown in job growth, state officials have said.