The unemployment rate in Florida continued to fall in November, according to the Department of Economic Opportunitywhich announced Friday that the states unemployment rate dropped to 6.4 percent, the lowest its been since July 2008.
Fridays numbers showed Florida added 6,000 private-sector jobs in November and it has created a total of 446,300 private-sector jobs since December 2010.
Floridas annual job growth rate of 2.5 percent for October and November was the fastest the state has seen since June 2006.
The state's unemployment rate continues to stay below the national unemployment rate, which is currently 7 percent.
Since December 2010, Floridas statewide unemployment rate has dropped 4.7 percent, from a rate of 11.1 percent to Novembers rate of 6.4 percent.
Floridas unemployment rate has now declined year-over-year for 37 consecutive months.
Monroe County boasted the lowest unemployment rate in the state, with only 3.7 percent, while Walton County and Okaloosa County trailed behind with 4 percent and 4.5 percent unemployment rates, respectively.
Hendry County had an unemployment rate nearly 5 percentage points higher than the statewide average at 11.3 percent. Flagler County and Putnam County had the second and third highest unemployment rates at 9.2 percent and 8.4 percent.
Gov. Rick Scott trumpeted Fridays numbers as only part of what hes done to help Floridas economy.
We havent experienced an unemployment rate this low in over five years. At 6.4 percent, were well below the nations 7 percent unemployment rate, and we added another 6,000 new jobs in November, said Scott. Weve cut taxes, made government more efficient and provided more services to families. The result: We are creating an opportunity economy that supports more than 446,000 new private-sector jobs since December 2010.
Others chimed in with Scott, agreeing that Floridas economy is on the right track.
The economic news just keeps getting better for Florida, said DEO Executive Director Jesse Panuccio. Weve had another significant drop in the unemployment rate, continued job growth, and job demand is at an all-time high. The policies of the Scott administration are working to create an opportunity economy for all Floridians.
Scott also added that hes planning to do more for Floridas families by cutting automobile taxes in the next budget.
Todays news is great, but were not finished, he said. Were proposing to cut automobile taxes and fees by $401 million in our next budget. In 2009, those fees were raised, and were going to undo that 54 percent increase on Florida families.
According to the Florida Economic Estimating Conference, Florida can continue to see job growth in the coming years. The conference estimated that Florida will create more than 1 million new jobs by 2018.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen atAllison@sunshinestatenews.comor follow her on Twitter at @AllisonNielsen.
