New Jersey ends 2015 with 64,500 new jobs

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's economy added 64,500 jobs in 2015, making it what the state Labor Department calls the strongest year of private sector job growth in 15 years.

Preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also shows the state's private sector employers added 12,500 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.1 percent in December.