Florida business leaders welcomed the news announced Friday that job creation continues to grow in the state.
Creating greater economic certainty will help instill confidence among job creators and allow the free enterprise system to move more Floridians from the unemployment lines into jobs," stated David Heart, executive vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, in a news release.
Unemployment in Florida stood at 10.3 percent in October, the lowest point in more than two years, the Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday.
For a statewide breakdown of September and October unemployment figures, see here.
Overall, 931,000 Floridians were listed as out of work, down from 984,000 a month earlier, when the statewide unemployment rate was 10.6 percent.
Putting the long-term health of Florida ahead of short-term politics will help position Florida to once again lead the nation in private sector job creation and further help us to secure Floridas future," Hart added.
With a net increase of 9,500 jobs since September, 106,900 since January, the new numbers are seen as encouraging by Gov. Rick Scott and DEO Director Doug Darling.
Most of the growth is in service fields that traditionally start to see growth in Florida as the weather cools up north.
As we head into the holiday season, its great to see we continue to move in the right direction when it comes to job creation and getting people back to work, Scott said in a statement from the DEO. The businesses in our state have created more than 100,000 jobs so far this year. Im going to do everything I can to keep attracting businesses here and help those here already thrive so we can continue to see this growth.
The state mark continues to remain higher than the national mark, which dipped from 9.1 percent in September to 9 percent in October.
The national rate was released Nov. 4.
Floridas steady job growth and lower unemployment numbers are encouraging, Darling stated in the release. The Department of Economic Opportunity continues to work closely with our partners at Enterprise Florida to create jobs, as well as Workforce Florida and the states 24 regional workforce boards to match job seekers with employers and help ensure a well-trained workforce for our states current and future labor needs.
Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry praised Republican legislators and Scott for the 2011 numbers.
"Governor Rick Scott and Republican leaders in the Legislature are enacting policies that encourage entrepreneurs to grow and start businesses, and these policies are creating jobs in our state," Curry stated in a released. "Governor Scott is living up to his promise to get Floridians back to work."
Leisure and hospitality had the most growth, adding 39,400 jobs, followed by private education and health services, which combined for 29,200 jobs, professional and business services, 26,600 jobs, and transportation and utilities, 20,500 positions.
These industry job gains are partially due to increases in food services and drinking places; ambulatory health-care services; employment services; clothing and accessory stores; real estate; and fabricated metal product manufacturing, the DEO stated in a release.
Fields seeing declines in October from September: Construction, 11,600 jobs; government, 8,600; and information, 4,600.
These industry job losses are partially due to losses in construction of buildings; local government; telecommunications; and repair and maintenance, the release stated.
There are 34 Florida counties with double-digit unemployment rates in October, down from 41 in September.
Liberty and Monroe counties have the states lowest unemployment rate at 6.3 percent each, followed by Walton County, 6.8 percent, Okaloosa, 7.0 percent, and Alachua and Lafayette counties, each at 7.4 percent.
Many of the counties with the lowest unemployment rates are those with relatively high proportions of government employment, the DEO release stated.
At the other end, Hendry County has the highest employment at 16.1 percent, followed by Flagler County, 14.0 percent, Hernando County at 13.0 percent, and Indian River and St. Lucie counties each at 12.7 percent.
The DEO sayss state government layoffs and a relatively high percentage of agricultural employment contributed to Hendry Countys high unemployment rate.
Florida Metropolican Statistical Areas
October unemployment rate - September unemployment rate
Palm Coast MSA: 14.0 - 14.6
Sebastian-Vero Beach MSA: 12.7 - 13.7
Port St. Lucie MSA: 12.0 - 12.6
Ocala MSA: 11.8 - 12.4
Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA: 11.3 - 12.0
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville MSA: 11.2 - 11.6
Naples-Marco Island MSA: 10.7 - 11.4
Cape Coral-Ft. Myers MSA: 10.7 - 11.2
Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall MD: 10.7 - 11.5
Punta Gorda MSA: 10.6 - 11.2
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA: 10.3 - 10.8
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach MD: 10.3 - 10.9
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach MSA: 10.3 - 10.8
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota MSA: 10.3 - 10.9
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach MSA: 10.0 - 10.6
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford MSA: 9.8 - 10.2
Jacksonville MSA: 9.6 - 10.0
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent MSA: 9.5 - 10.0
Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach MSA: 9.5 - 9.7
Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach MD: 8.9 - 9.3
Tallahassee MSA: 7.9 - 8.6
Gainesville MSA: 7.5 - 8.1
Crestview-Ft. Walton Beach-Destin MSA: 7.0 - 7.3
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com, (850) 727-0859, or (772) 215-9889.
