TRENTON-For the first time in nearly four years, New Jersey's jobless rate has dipped below four percent to 3.9 percent in January, a decrease of 0.3 from the month before. April 2001 was the last time the state's unemployment rate was 3.9 percent. New Jersey's rate remained below the U.S. rate for the twenty-first consecutive month. In January, the national rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 5.2 percent. "The drop in the unemployment rate is good news, especially since we have not experienced such a low rate in nearly four years," said Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development Thomas D. Carver. "I remain fully committed to ensuring that our hard working people stay employed.. .that is our top priority." Preliminary estimates from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development's monthly survey of employers, indicate that, the number of persons working on nonfarm payrolls decreased slightly by 2,200 from December to 4,030,000 in January.