by Bethany Blankley
Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6% in November, the lowest of the 10 largest states in the U.S. and 1.1 percentage points lower than the national rate. It was also the 24th consecutive month that Florida’s unemployment rate remained below the national rate.
In November, Florida continued to exceed the national job growth rate for the 20th consecutive month; its employers have added jobs for 31 consecutive months.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted total nonagricultural employment was 9,562,900 in November, an increase of 28,100 jobs, 0.3% over the month, according to Florida Department of Economic Opportunity data. Florida also gained 428,200 jobs over the year, an increase of 4.7% compared to national job increases of 3.3% over the year, it reported.
“Florida’s continued success over the past two years is no accident. No matter the challenges, we have stayed on offense,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Florida’s economy is outpacing the nation for the second consecutive year because we have invested in our workforce and prioritized keeping Floridians at work and businesses open. As the New Year approaches, we will continue investing in our workforce and infrastructure to create jobs and keep our economy moving forward.”
All 10 major industries experienced positive over-the-year job growth in November with leisure and hospitality gaining the most, “a great sign for an industry that is often the most reactive to challenges like hurricanes,” the governor’s office said. The industry added 9,600 jobs over the month, followed by education and health services adding 6,200 jobs and construction adding 5,400 jobs.
In November, 23 out of 24 metro areas in Florida also reported over-the-year job gains. Those with the largest gains were Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater with 73,600 new jobs, an increase of 5.1%; Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford with 61,200 new jobs, an increase of 4.6%; and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, with 58,800 new jobs, an increase of 4.8%.
In November, Miami-Dade County reported the lowest unemployment rate in the state and among the lowest nationwide of 1.5%, followed by Monroe County’s 1.6%, and Okaloosa and St. Johns counties each reporting 2.2%.
Hendry and Highlands counties had the highest unemployment rate of 4.2%, followed by Citrus County’s 4.1% and Hamilton County’s 3.9%.
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Bethany Blankley is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Construction Workers” by Aleksey.
