Florida lost thousands of jobs and the unemployment rate remained unchanged during the month of February, according to a new report from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The report, released Friday, found the state lost 5,000 jobs during the month of February, bringing the total job creation numbers down to 54,000 in 2017.
Florida's unemployment rate remained stagnant at 5 percent, a slightly higher number than the national average, which was 4.7 percent in February.
Monroe County had the state's lowest unemployment rate at 3.1 percent, followed by St. Johns County (3.6 percent) and Wakulla County (3.9 percent).
Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate in Florida at 7.6 percent. Sumter and Citrus Counties had the second and third highest unemployment rates, at 7 and 6.7 percent, respectively.
Gov. Rick Scott made the announcement in Bradenton, choosing to highlight Florida's overall job growth rather than on what are likely discouraging numbers in February.
"Over the past six years, we have been relentless in our efforts to make Florida the most business-friendly state in the nation because a job is the most important thing to a family," Scott said.
Florida created nearly 54,000 jobs in 2017, according to the report, and the state is still outpacing the national job growth rate for the 59th month in a row.
Jobs have been a key aspect of Scott's terms as governor. He ran on a message of economic opportunity for all and pledged to get Floridians back to work.
Using economic incentive agencies like Enterprise Florida, Scott has tried to encourage companies to bring their business to Florida.
That program is under attack from the Florida House, which disagrees with Scott on just how effective Enterprise Florida is at creating jobs.
House Speaker Richard Corcoran is leading the charge on legislation to eliminate EFI and the state's tourism agency, Visit Florida, criticizing the agencies for being unnecessary and wasting taxpayer money.
Scott said the House's war on EFI and Visit Florida was bad news for the Sunshine State.
"It is incredibly disheartening that politicians in the Florida House have voted to jeopardize programs that create opportunities for our families, visitors, military members and job creators," he said Friday. "However, we will continue to fight for important economic development tools like Enterprise Florida and VISIT FLORIDA and the critical impact they have on supporting our growing economy."
Sunshine State News contacted Corcoran's office for comment on February's job numbers but had not received a response at the time of this article's release.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
