JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Exciting job news for Jacksonville: The city ranks as one of the top five cities in the nation to find a job, according to a recent list by Forbes magazine.
CareerSource Northeast Florida officials say this doesn't surprise them. They say the unemployment rate in Northeast Florida has been decreasing for quite some time now.
The data shows that small and mid-sized cities like Jacksonville are often overlooked by many job seekers. These are the cities job seekers should consider because of their economic growth. This is promising news for Brian Foster who was laid off about a month ago.
"There's that feeling when it's 10:30 in the morning and I'm not at work every minute. I'm sitting here, I'm not bringing in any income and you feel like you're the only person in the world in that situation, when you know there are millions of people across the country in that situation," said Foster. He adds the study shows promising news.
About 8.5 million people are in Foster's unemployed situation.
"I'm trying to stay positive," he said. " It's inflows though when you have a lot of activity and you find some jobs you are interested in, you kind of had that little boost of energy and then when things die down and you're not hearing back from people you've contacted, you kind of get in the doldrums a bit," said Foster.
According to a May listing in Forbes magazine, the top five cities for jobs were: Austin, Texas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Nashville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jacksonville taking the number five spot.
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According to CareerSource Northeast Florida, the industries seeing the most workers in the area include: transportation, logistics, retail, hospitality, and construction.
Foster says this news is encouraging and he has a message for employers: "Really hoping the next 30 days something will come up and things will work. Hire me!!"
He said he is willing to move anywhere in the country if that's what it takes.