unemployment

Florida has Lowest Unemployment Rate Amongst the 10 Largest States in the Nation

On May 19, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida has the lowest unemployment rate among the top 10 largest states in the nation at 2.6 percent, as Floridians see continued economic stability spurred on in part by the thriving tourism industry.

unemployment
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Between January and March of 2023, Florida saw a record 37.9 million visitors, the largest volume of visitors ever recorded in a single quarter. In April 2023, Florida’s unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the fourth consecutive month, which is 0.8 percentage points lower than the national rate of 3.4 percent. Florida’s statewide unemployment rate has remained lower than the national rate for 30 consecutive months since November 2020.

In April 2023, the labor force was 10,960,000, an increase of 5.8 percent since February 2020. Between April 2022 and April 2023, Florida’s total private sector employment grew by 336,200 jobs (4.1 percent), which is faster than the national private sector job growth rate of 2.7 percent during the same time period. In April 2023, with the exception of October 2022, Florida employers have added jobs for 35 months since May 2020. Florida’s over-the-year private sector job growth rate has exceeded the nation’s growth rate for 25 consecutive months since April 2021.

“Through strong economic policy and strategic investments, Florida is outperforming the nation and providing more opportunity for its citizens, resulting in more than 200,000 new business formations this year alone and an unemployment rate near an all-time low,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “In Florida, we are combatting negative national economic headwinds by promoting policies that support Florida businesses and families and attract record numbers of tourists every day.”

Tampa

Gov. DeSantis also announced that the Tampa area gained the most private sector jobs among all metro areas over the year in April 2023. Tampa area’s private sector employment grew by 54,800 jobs over the year, an increase of 4.2 percent. In April 2023, the Tampa metro area led the metro areas in job gains over the year in professional and business services, increasing by 16,700 jobs; education and health services, increasing by 15,400 jobs; construction, increasing by 6,100 jobs; and other services, increasing by 2,500 jobs.

The Tampa area’s labor force grew by 68,202 over the year in April 2023, a 4.2 percent increase. The unemployment rate in the Tampa area was 2.3 percent in April 2023, a decrease of 0.3 percentage point from the year ago rate of 2.6 percent. The industries gaining the most jobs over the year were professional and business services, increasing by 16,700 jobs; and education and health services, increasing by 15,400 jobs.

In April 2023, Florida’s unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the fourth consecutive month, which is 0.8 percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.4 percent.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *