Floridas unemployment rate fell again in April -- the fourth straight month of decline -- to 10.8 percent, the states lowest rate in 19 months.
The numbers released Friday by the state Agency for Workforce Innovation show a total of 8.25 million jobs in Florida, an increase of 27,000 from March and a net gain of 83,000 jobs over the year. There are also 996,000 unemployed workers still actively seeking employment, the first time that number has dipped below 1 million since October 2009.
Gov. Rick Scott, who has seen the unemployment rate drop 1.1 percent since taking office in January, took the opportunity to tout the numbers, as well as reductions in business and property taxes that he pushed for and the Legislature delivered.
I remain focused on job creation, so it is great news that this trend is continuing in the right direction. With tax relief for property owners and the elimination of taxes on about half of business that currently pay, I believe we are on the path to getting Florida back to work, Scott said.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, a candidate in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, took to Twitter to tout his efforts to reduce taxes and eliminate regulations in the recent legislative session. One of his opponents in the race, former state Rep. Adam Hasner, seemed unimpressed with an unemployment rate that remains in double digits, but blamed their mutual opponent of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and President Barack Obama.
"Florida's unemployment rate is headed in the right direction, and that's good news for those Floridians who have been able to find jobs in this difficult economy. But it's little comfort to the nearly 1 million Floridians who are still unemployed, and the other Floridians who have given up looking for work altogether. Florida's unemployment rate is still higher than what President Obama and Senator Nelson promised it would be when they rammed the stimulus through Congress, and their economic policies of stimulus, debt, bailouts, cap-and-trade and Obamacare are burdening job creators and stifling economic growth," Hasner said.
The continued decline in the unemployment rate also generated optimism at AWI.
This is the fourth straight month of decline in Florida's unemployment rate and the lowest rate in more than a year and a half -- very encouraging for Florida's employers and job seekers. With Governor Scott's laser focus on job creation, we can expect continued improvement in Florida's business outlook and employment opportunities, said AWI director Cynthia Lorenzo.
The greatest areas of job growth are in the states urban centers, with the Orlando metro area leading the way. Orlando saw a year-over-year increase of 15,200 jobs, with jobs in the Miami and Tampa metro areas swelling by 10,000 jobs and 7,800 jobs, respectively, over the past 12 months.
Despite the increase, Miami retains the second-highest jobless rate among Florida metros at 13.2 percent, just behind Palm Coast with 13.8 percent.
Those areas, along with others with double-digit unemployment rates, have been deeply impacted by job losses in theconstruction sector, as Florida continues to suffer from the aftermath of the deep global recession and the burst of the housing bubble in the Sunshine State. Florida has lost 353,000 construction jobs since 2007 when the state began to shed jobs --nearly 52 percent of the industry at its peak.
The Space Coast continues to reel from the imminent end of the space shuttle program, with the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville metro area losing 4,600 jobs in the past year, or 2.3 percent of its work force, the largest decrease among Florida metros. The numbers are only likely to get worse, with more layoffs related to the space shuttle announced this month, and the last shuttle mission slated for July.
Besides the NASA layoffs, the end of the 2010 Census contributed to the year-over-year loss of 6,600 government jobs in the state.
Floridas job gains came primarily from leisure and hospitality industries, and private education and health services industries, which added 39,400 jobs and 17,200 jobs in the past 12 months, respectively.
While the numbers are cause for optimism, AWI chief economist Rebecca Rust cautioned that local unemployment numbers are not seasonally adjusted, and job increases in industries related to tourism, education and agriculture are typical for April.
This is a very seasonal month, Rust said.
Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate swelled to 9 percent in April, up 0.2 percent from the previous month. Florida is headed in a better direction than the national numbers, but the large number of foreclosures and the subsequently depressed housing market continue to slow the recovery.
I think were comfortable now saying were on the road to recovery. But the housing market is going to continue to be what holds us back, Rust said.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
