The New Jersey government reported Thursday that the state has added 17,300 jobs in March which helped to steady the state's economy from a shaky 2016 start.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate climbed up slightly to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent. This indicates that more workers entered the workforce showing they are more confident now with their job prospects.

"People who have been sitting on the sidelines are back in the game again," said James W. Hughes, a Rutgers University economist. "They sense that there are jobs out there," he added.

Help wanted signs in the state are not very hard to find. One example is Walmart. The giant retail chain said on Thursday that it is hiring nearly 300 workers who will be assigned to its new store in Little Egg Harbor.

Walmart opened a hiring center at 200 Mathistown Road, Suite 6, and is now entertaining job applicants from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The hiring center is also open on Sunday. Interested job seekers are also advised to apply online at https://careers.walmart.com/.

The figures given by the state were taken from its monthly unemployment report which is a poll of employers that is designed to estimate the number of jobs available in the state. A poll of households to compute the jobless rate was also used.

This new information released on Thursday revealed that the number of New Jersey residents who have jobs rose from 4,367,600 to 4,378,500 in the month of March.

The Workforce Development of the state says that the rate increased from 4.3 percent since more NJ residents entered the work force

A majority of the job gains were in the sectors of education, construction, hospitality and leisure. However, jobs in the manufacturing sector have contracted by 200 jobs.

Governor Chris Christie, (R) has boasted lately about the state's decreasing unemployment rate, and claimed that his regulatory reductions and vetoes on tax increases have encouraged the falling rate.