Florida's jobless rate holds steady in August

Jacksonville adds 24,000 private-sector jobs over year, governor says

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida's unemployment mark has remained unchanged for a fourth consecutive month, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity.

Jobless figures released Friday estimated that 454,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed in August, 3,000 fewer than in July.

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In the same time, Florida's labor force of 9.7 million shrunk by 13,000. The unemployment rate remained at 4.7 percent.

The Jacksonville area has increased private-sector jobs by 24,300 in the last year. The area's unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, a decline of 0.8 in the last year.

“Our work to create opportunities for every Florida family is working, especially in Jacksonville where businesses added more than 24,000 new jobs in the past year," Gov. Rick Scott said in a news release. "We have cut taxes 55 times since 2010, which has saved $5.5 billion for families and job creators, and we will keep working to cut even more taxes for Floridians.” 

The industries with the most job growth in the Jacksonville area over the year were education and health services with 5,100 new jobs; leisure and hospitality with 4,800 new jobs; and construction with 4,300 new jobs. The Jacksonville area remains among the top five metro areas in job demand, with 19,843 openings, including 5,592 job openings in high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.

Scott, who announced the jobs numbers during an appearance at All Access MultiMedia, a video-production company in Fort Myers, issued a release highlighting the creation of 22,600 private sector jobs in August.

With the latest figures, the state has been below the national rate of 4.9 percent for three consecutive months.

Scott's office also sent out a series of releases that showed businesses in the Orlando region have led the state over the past year in the creation of private-sector jobs with 48,300.

The Tampa area is up 39,000 private-sector jobs, Miami has added 12,000, Fort Lauderdale is up 33,000, and Pensacola has added 900.

Unemployment Rates By State | CareerTrends