Florida unemployment rate falls to 7 percent
- ️Fri Sep 20 2013
Florida’s labor market continued a slow, unsteady march toward recovery in August, with the unemployment rate ticking down to 7 percent, a decrease of one-tenth of a percentage point from July and 1.6 percentage points lower than a year ago.
The jobless rate is at its lowest level since September 2008. But unemployment dipped in Florida because the labor force contracted, not because new jobs were added.
Over the month, Florida lost 4,700 jobs, according to data from the Department of Economic Opportunity. Over the year, however, the state has added 131,400 jobs, an increase of 1.8 percent.
In metro Orlando – which includes Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties – the unemployment rate fell to 6.6 percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from July’s rate of 6.9 percent.
The region has gained 19,400 jobs in the past year, the third biggest gain among the state’s metro areas. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater led that category, adding almost 42,000 jobs over the year.
Statewide, the jobless rate has fallen from 8.6 percent to 7 percent in the past 12 months. Florida’s unemployment rate is now slightly lower than the national rate of 7.3 percent.
Gov. Rick Scott has tied his 2014 re-election campaign to the performance of the state’s job market, saying he has the management skills to nurse it back to health. During the first 21/2 years of his tenure, statewide unemployment has fallen steadily as the economy slowly recovers.
State economists say the gains are not as strong as they appear. They estimate that almost half of the state’s decrease in unemployment is attributable to people leaving the work force, not finding new jobs.
The unemployment rate and the number of new jobs created each month are calculated from two separate surveys. Typically, they move in concert, with unemployment falling as job numbers rise. But sometimes, they are out of sync, and the unemployment rate improves even though officials report a net loss of jobs.
jstratton@tribune.com or 407-420-5379.
Originally Published: September 20, 2013 at 4:00 AM EDT