Unemployment increases statewide; Florida has less jobs

Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July 2010 is 11.5 percent, up marginally by 0.1 percentage point over the previous month.  This represents 1,055,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,214,000.  The June unemployment rate for Florida was 11.4 percent. This is down from an 18-month peak of 12 percent in January.

In Broward, citizens are looking at a 10.4 percent as of July 2010 numbers, an increase of June’s 10.1 percent, though it is still down a half percent from 10.9 in January and February. Historically, prior to June 2008 when rates began increasing heavily, Broward typically hovered near a 3 to 4 percent unemployment rate. Click here to see a historic timeline of unemployment rates in Broward.

According to this chart here, Florida has a two percent higher unemployment rate than the national average of 9.5 percent. In South Florida, Miami-Dade also saw an unemployment increase from 12.8 to 13.2 percent. Palm Beach also saw an increase in unemployment from 11.8 to 12.2 percent. Find the data here: http://www.floridajobs.org/publications/news_rel/LMS%20Release%2008-20-10.pdf. Looking at the data, it appears that many counties in Florida saw an increase in unemployment, though seasonal tourism and the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster is likely to have had an impact.

Florida’s total nonagricultural employment in July 2010 is 7,238,800, representing an increase of 5,700 jobs (+0.1 percent) over the previous month.  Florida’s annual rate of job growth is up slightly (less than +0.1 percent), an increase of 2,700 jobs.  This growth is the first over-the-year increase in jobs since June 2007.  Nationally, the number of jobs is down slightly over the past year.

“This month’s marginal increase in the unemployment rate is accompanied by the encouraging news of an increase in jobs.  As our economy continues to slowly recover, we remain dedicated to supporting Floridians and their families,” said AWI Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo.  “Most recently, our agency’s efforts include expediting payments for the two recent federal unemployment compensation extensions.  In less than three weeks, we have paid more than $294 million to nearly 279,000 unemployed workers.”

EB and EUC Programs Fully Implemented

Last month, actions by Governor Crist and the federal government extended the two unemployment compensation programs that had expired earlier in the year, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program and the Extended Benefits (EB) program.  For Florida businesses, these extensions are 100% federally funded and do not impact the state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund or the state business tax.

EUC provides up to 53 weeks of federally-funded benefits for those who have exhausted their regular state claim. The new law did not create additional weeks of benefits but did extend the qualification deadline through November 2010. The agency began paying EUC benefits to qualified customers within one week of the legislation’s enactment and is on track to pay $3.6 billion to 527,000 people through April 2011.

EB provides up to 20 additional weeks of federally-funded benefits to people who exhaust all regular state benefits and EUC benefits, provided the state is in an EB period.  Governor Crist signed Executive Order 10-170 on July 23, 2010, which extended Florida’s EB period by six months.  The agency is on track to pay $604 million to 250,000 people by December 4, 2010.

For additional information, please visit www.floridajobs.org and click on Hot Topics.

Florida’s Nonagricultural Employment by Industry (Seasonally Adjusted)

• The number of jobs in Florida is 7,238,800 in July 2010, up by 2,700 jobs compared to a year ago.  This is the first annual increase in jobs since June 2007.  The industry gaining the most jobs is private education and health services (+36,700 jobs, +3.5 percent).
• Other industries gaining jobs include: total government (+8,800 +0.8 percent); professional and business services (+8,000 jobs, +0.8 percent); other services (+5,400 jobs, +1.7 percent); and trade, transportation, and utilities (+5,100 jobs, +0.3 percent).
• These industry job gains are partially due to ambulatory health care services; federal government; management, scientific, and technical services; membership associations and organizations; and clothing and accessory stores.
• The industries losing jobs over the year include:  construction (-27,500 jobs, -7.1 percent); financial activities (-18,600 jobs, -3.9 percent); information (-9,400 jobs, -6.6 percent); manufacturing (-5,500 jobs, -1.7 percent); and leisure and hospitality (-300 jobs, less than -0.1 percent).
• These industry job losses are partially due to weakness in construction of buildings; credit intermediation; telecommunications; fabricated metal product manufacturing; and food services and drinking places.

Local Area Unemployment Statistics (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

• In July 2010, Walton County has the state’s lowest unemployment rate (7.5 percent); followed by Liberty (7.6 percent); Monroe and Okaloosa counties (7.9 percent each); Lafayette County (8.2 percent); and Franklin County (8.4 percent).  Many of the counties with the lowest unemployment rates are those with relatively high proportions of government employment.  Others have seasonal increases in tourism.
• Hendry County (19.7 percent) has the highest unemployment rate in Florida in July 2010, followed by Flagler County (15.6 percent); St. Lucie County (15.2 percent); Indian River County (14.9 percent); and Okeechobee County (14.6 percent).  Most of the counties with the highest unemployment rates in the state have seasonal declines in agriculture and related industries.  There are 49 Florida counties with double-digit unemployment rates in July, up from 46 the previous month.

Area Nonagricultural Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

• Eight metro areas in the state have over-the-year job gains: Gainesville (+1,500 jobs, +1.2 percent); North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota (+1,400 jobs, +0.6 percent); Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent (+800 jobs, +0.5 percent); Tallahassee (+700 jobs, +0.4 percent); Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach (+400 jobs, +0.5 percent); Port St. Lucie (+300 jobs, +0.3 percent); Punta Gorda (+200 jobs, +0.5 percent); and Naples-Marco Island (+100 jobs, +0.1 percent).
• Of the metro areas with job losses, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (-4,400 jobs, -0.4 percent) is losing the most, followed by Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (-4,000jobs,-0.4percent); Jacksonville (-2,800 jobs, -0.5 percent); Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville (-2,300 jobs, -1.2 percent); and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (-2,300 jobs, -0.1 percent).

Related posts:

1. Florida’s unemployment down again; 4200 Gulf jobs available
2. Unemployment rate in Florida still creeping up
3. Florida unemployment rate goes down slightly
4. Unemployment rate drops for third month in a row in Florida
5. Florida’s unemployment rate still hovering at 12 percent

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