The unemployment rate in Florida has increased for the past two years

Florida – Florida’s jobless rate increased for a second consecutive month in April, reaching its highest level in almost two years.

In a study released on Friday, the state Department of Commerce projected that 361,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed in mid-April, or a 3.3% unemployment rate. There were 8,000 more jobless persons than there were in March. In the meantime, there were 2,000 fewer workers in the labor force in April, amounting to 11.095 million.

The report indicates “really strong job growth” for the month, according to Jimmy Heckman, the department’s chief of workforce statistics and economic research, adding the state’s unemployment rate is still “very low by historical standards.” In April, the national rate increased from 3.8 percent in March to 3.9 percent.

“We’re still six-tenths of a percent lower than the national rate, which is also very low by historical standards,” Heckman told reporters in a conference call Friday.

Heckman continued, stating that the employment situation in the private sector grew by 42,600 in April and that there are still more job opportunities than unemployed persons in the state, making it “very favorable” for job hunters.

“So as long as that’s true, I think, yeah, there’s not really a concern with a minor increase this month,” Heckman said.

After three months at 3.1 percent, Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.2 percent in March. In the spring of 2006, the state’s lowest unemployment rate was 2.4%.

Following the release of the most recent data, Governor Ron DeSantis stated on social media that Florida had just been ranked first in the nation for both the economy and education by U.S. News & World Report.

Although it is greater than in Florida, the national unemployment rate has been below 4% since January 2022.

The only two states where unemployment rates rose in April were Florida and Maryland, both by 0.1 percentage points.

Florida had a 2.7 percent jobless rate in April 2023. The latest data revealed that although the number of persons who qualified as unemployed increased by 61,000, the labor force expanded by 148,000 individuals annually.

When the state was emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2022, with a labor force of 10.471 million, the rate was last at 3.3%. At that time, 348,000 people were predicted to be unemployed in Florida.

According to the latest statistics, employment has increased slightly in most sectors, with the construction industry gaining 400 jobs in April, manufacturing adding 2,300, education and health services adding 6,300, and leisure and hospitality adding 9,200.

South Florida maintained to have the lowest unemployment rates in the state of Florida; the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area’s rate remained at 2.7 percent from March forward. The regions of Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin and Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island had 2.9 percent.

At 4.9%, the Homosassa Springs region had the highest rate. The Villages (4.7%) and Sebring (4.6%) were the next highest areas.

The metro rates are not adjusted for seasonality, but the statewide rate is.