New Jersey has yet to see any strong signs of economic recovery, even as the rest of the region has started to pull out of the recession, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said today. While neighboring New York has rebounded strongly since late last year, New Jersey appears to have hit bottom and plateaued, according to the bank’s economic indicators.

Bank economists said a slow jobs recovery and a shrinking manufacturing sector mean the Garden State, which entered the recession six months before the rest of the nation in June 2007, could also be one of the last to emerge. While New York City officially exited the recession last November, economists said it remains to be seen when New Jersey’s economy will pull out of its tailspin. Read more in Star Ledger.