Gov. Rick Scott announced on Friday that the state unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent in June, the lowest since March 2008, as 12,200 new jobs were added to the private sector. The unemployment rate had stood at 5.7 percent in May.
“Today’s announcement of nearly 900,000 new private-sector jobs in just four and a half years is great news,” Scott said on Friday. “We have cut taxes 50 times – including $400 million in tax cuts this year – and we will keep working to create an environment where more businesses can expand and grow in Florida so families have more opportunities to succeed in the Sunshine State.”
Over the past year, Florida has seen 266,200 new jobs with Orlando leading the way with more than 47,000 of those new jobs based in that city. The Tampa Bay area saw almost 33,000 new jobs over the last year while almost 28,000 new jobs were added in the Miami area.
Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate at 10.3 percent followed by Hardee County with 7.8 percent, Putnam County with 7.7 percent and Citrus County at 7.6 percent. Monroe County had the lowest unemployment rate with 3.6 percent followed by St. Johns County at 4 percent and Okaloosa and Franklin counties at 4.4 percent.
The trade, transportation and utilities industry saw 60,400 new jobs in the last year while the record-breaking number of tourists coming to Florida led to 53,600 new jobs in the leisure and hospitality fields. Health services gained 53,300 jobs in the last year. There have been only 1,000 new government jobs in the last year.
“The June economic numbers show that Florida’s job market has continued its strong growth through the first half of 2015, with 110,400 private-sector jobs added since January 1,” insisted Jesse Panuccio, the executive director with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. “We are also growing jobs at a faster rate than the nation and all other large states. This economic resurgence is happening because employers and job seekers have renewed confidence in Florida’s pro-growth policies and low taxes. The Scott administration will continue to support these policies so that Florida will have the top performing economy in the nation.”
In December 2010, the month before Scott took office, the unemployment rate in Florida stood at 11.1 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
