Florida’s unemployment rate continued to remain constant in July, sitting at an unchanged 4.7 percent according to the latest report from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
June’s unemployment rate was also 4.7 percent.
The number of Floridians in the labor force actually decreased despite the unchanged unemployment rate, with 20,000 fewer Floridians in the labor force in July than in June. There were 456,000 jobless Floridians out of a workforce of 9.727 million people in the Sunshine State.
Despite Florida’s stagnant unemployment rate, it still slightly outpaces the national unemployment rate, which was 4.9 percent in July.
State businesses created more than 26,000 jobs in July, with the private sector seeing the most growth. Professional and business services added 12,000 jobs, while education and health services added 4,900 jobs.
According to Gov. Rick Scott’s office, Florida job postings showed over 253,000 job postings for the month of July.
“Florida’s economy continues to flourish, adding thousands of jobs each month even while other states lose jobs,” said Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Cissy Proctor. “Our strong job openings show that new opportunities are plentiful, and now is a great time to find your dream job in Florida.”
The Orlando area led the state in job creation, creating nearly 45,000 jobs this year, the highest number of jobs among all Florida metro areas.
Hendry County had the state’s highest unemployment rate, with 11.7 percent of its residents unemployed, followed by Hardee County and Citrus County, which had unemployment rates of 7.6 and 7.3 percent.
Monroe County had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 3.3 percent, closely followed by St. Johns and Lafayette Counties with unemployment rates at 3.8 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.
Despite July’s consistent unemployment rate, the state unemployment rate has continued to decrease over the years. During the economic recession, unemployment was up to a whopping 11.8 percent. That was in December 2009, nearly seven years ago.
Gov. Rick Scott has made creating jobs a top focus during his time in office, promising to promote the economy and bring jobs back to the Sunshine State.
Gov. Rick Scott has typically traveled and made the monthly jobs announcements himself, but made a last-minute stop to Miami to discuss the Zika virus and was unable to attend the announcement in Tampa Friday.
Scott still had warm words for Florida’s job creation in July.
“I am proud to announce today that Florida businesses created more than 26,000 new jobs last month,” Scott said in a statement Friday. “Florida’s private sector job growth rate has also outpaced the nation for more than four years and we are clearly sending a message across the country that our state is the best place for businesses and families to succeed. We will continue to do all we can to support job creators so Florida can become first in nation for jobs.”
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
