The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 13.8% in July. That’s a very high figure, but the rate is coming down. New Jersey has now regained about 341,000 jobs since April. The New Jersey Department of Labor says that’s 41% of the jobs lost due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But the state has a long way to go. Since March, nearly 1.5 million New Jersey residents have filed for unemployment benefits. In the latest week, the New Jersey Department of Labor received more than 25,000 new applications, reversing a two-week decline. Nationally, more than 1 million people filed for new unemployment claims in the latest week which was higher than expected.

With chants of “tax the rich,” demonstrators gathered in Marlton to call on the state to end tax breaks for the wealthy. Progressive groups released a report called Pandemic Profiteers. It names New Jersey millionaires and companies they say have gotten richer since the pandemic.

New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson is about to launch the largest late stage clinical trial to date for a potential coronavirus vaccine. According to The Wall Street Journal, 60,000 people will participate in the trial. One medical expert says the large trial will help speed up the evaluation process. The report says Johnson & Johnson might have preliminary results by the end of the year.