Local Unemployment Rate Declines

March 25, 2017

The latest job numbers released Friday show the employment rate decreasing in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

Escambia County’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 5.5 percent in January to 4.8 percent in February.  There were 6,812 people reported unemployed  during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 4.9 percent.

“We continue to see economic growth in communities throughout the state and the Pensacola area is no exception. I am proud to announce that businesses in the Pensacola area created more than 4,000 new jobs over the year.” Gov. Rick Scott said.

The industries with the most job growth in the Pensacola area over the year were leisure and hospitality with 1,900 new jobs and trade, transportation and utilities with 1,100 new jobs. The Pensacola area had 4,588 job openings in February, including 1,442 openings for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.

Santa Rosa County unemployment rate fell from 5.1 percent in January to 4.4 percent in February. Santa Rosa County had a total of  3,396 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 4.4 percent.

Florida’s unemployment rate held at 5 percent from January to February and matches the mark for the state a year ago, according to numbers released Friday by the Department of Economic Opportunity. The latest numbers reflect 501,000 Floridians out of work from labor force of 10 million. The state’s unemployment rate remains above the national figure of 4.7 percent.

The jobless numbers released by the state 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

Comments are closed.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News