Okay, clearly you're dumb, so I'll explain this in simple terms.

There are three factors at work here: Inflation, where everything gets slightly more expensive over time. Development, where Jersey City is improving and becoming significantly more expensive over time due to increases in demand. COVID, which drove the market out of whack but is a temporary effect that was wearing off in multiple ways throughout 2022 and has now mostly worn off.

The reason that OP's rent increased by 10% each year for the past two is that last year, it was still recovering from the temporary COVID effect. The reason that it's 10% higher than before COVID is that the long-term effects still apply. They are totally different subjects.