Floridas unemployment rate continues to fall and is now under 7 percent, according to the latest report on job numbers released Friday from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The report showed the unemployment rate for September was 6.8 percent and 6.7 percent for October. Octobers unemployment rate is the lowest Florida has seen since August 2008.
The national unemployment rate is 7.3 percent. Floridas numbers have been under the national rate since March of this year.
The report also showed Florida added 20,800 private-sector jobs in September and 46,400 private-sector jobs in October.
Floridas unemployment rate is now below 7 percent at 6.7 percent in October 2013, said Gov. Rick Scott on the numbers. This is our eighth month below the national average. Over the last two months, the state has added more than 67,000 private-sector jobs. This is great news for Florida families.
Although Florida has created over 440,000 jobs since December 2010, Scott said theres still more work to be done.
We dont just want a state where job creation reaches a certain number, or unemployment falls to a certain number, he said. We want to create an opportunity economy. We want a state with dynamic, growing industries that will create jobs and careers for generations to come.
Fridays report showed Floridas annual job growth rate from October 2012 to October 2013 is the fastest growth the state has seen since June 2006. Octobers private-sector numbers were the most growth in a month since December 2010. The unemployment rate has fallen from 11.1 percent to 6.7 percent -- a change of 4.4 points -- since then.
In October 2013, Monroe County had the states lowest unemployment rate at 3.8 percent, followed by Walton County, which had an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent andOkaloosa County with a 4.4 percent unemployment rate.
The counties with the highest unemployment rates were Hendry County, which had the highest unemployment rate with 12 percent in October, followed by Flagler County (9.4 percent), and St. Lucie County which had an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent.
The Sunshine State is also running a trade surplus of over $18 billion -- with $90.4 billion in exports and $71.8 billion in imports in 2012.
Todays numbers represent another successful chapter in Floridas remarkable turnaround story under the Scott administration, said Jesse Panuccio, executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. We continue to outpace the nation with respect to job growth, job demand, and unemployment decline, which is further proof that policy matters and the governors pro-growth agenda is working.
