Good news for New Jersey office landlords and brokers – job growth is getting stronger, though unemployment continues to decline slowly.

Nonfarm employment in January 2012 rose by a very strong 13,300 jobs, with the preliminary unemployment rate declining by 0.1 percentage point from December 2011’s 9.1% to 9%. That’s the fifth consecutive month of job growth.

“January’s strong gain in payrolls shows that the state’s economy is moving forward: employers are hiring. Moreover, the figure showing that 60% of New Jersey residents are at work is a point and a half higher than the national average,” said Charles Steindel, chief economist for the New Jersey Department of Treasury, in the announcement.

The number of jobs increased in both the private and public sectors, growing by 10,700 and 2,600 respectively. On the private side, the educational services sector saw a 5,600 job increase, with health care positions rising by 3,900. Losses were reported in professional and business services (down 6,500 jobs), information (a decline of 1,200) and financial activities (down 400).

Six of 10 private industry sectors in the state gained jobs from December 2010 to December 2011. In the previous month, public sector jobs increased on both the state (up 1,900) and local (up 700) levels.

The overall story is one of recovery, the department says, with 2011 showing gains versus an 18,700-job decline for 2010 (driven by a large decline in the public sector). So companies are hiring – and eventually, they will need more office space. Keep your fingers crossed.