Area Unemployment Rate Steady

December 17, 2016

The latest job numbers released Friday show the employment rate steady in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida, while falling in Escambia County in Alabama.

Escambia County’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 5.1 percent from October to November.  There were 7,164 people reported unemployed  during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 5.2 percent.

“Pensacola businesses are working hard to create opportunities for area families, adding more than 3,000 new jobs in the last year. We will continue working to diversify our economy and create an environment for economic growth in Pensacola and across our entire state,” Gov. Rick Scott said.

Santa Rosa County unemployment rate remained steady at 4.6 percent from October to November. Santa Rosa County had a total of  3,475 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 4.5 percent.

In Escambia County, Alabama, unemployment dropped from 6.6 percent in October to 6.2 percent in November. That represented 923 people unemployed in the county during the month. One year ago, the unemployment rate in Escambia County, Alabama, was 6.5 percent.

Florida’s jobless rate increased slightly for the second consecutive month, according to numbers released Friday by the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The state posted a November unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, with the number going up by 0.1 percentage point in each of the past two months. The latest figure represented an estimated 482,000 Floridians out of work from a workforce of 9.88 million. The number of unemployed people grew by 10,000 from October to November, while the workforce increased by 64,000 in the same time, according to the state figures.

Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, at 5.9 percent in November, was up from October’s  rate of 5.7 percent and was below the year-ago rate of 6.2 percent.

The jobless numbers released by Florida and Alabama do not include persons that have given up on finding a job and are no longer reported as unemployed.

The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

Comments

One Response to “Area Unemployment Rate Steady”

  1. BT on December 17th, 2016 11:27 am

    It’s great that the rate is dropping. The economy seems to be humming along pretty well.

    But, I posted a job listing for an entry-level job last month and was flooded with applicants. There are a lot of people who appear to be under-employed, dissatisfied, or not captured by the jobless statistics (recent moves to the state, military wives seeking extra income).

    I’m not really sure what the point of this is…guess I’m just feeling uneasy about things for no real reason. Maybe the glass really is half full.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News