Unemployment Rate Dropping

May 20, 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 4.3 percent in March  to 3.9 percent in April.  There were 5,643 people reported unemployed  during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 4.7 percent.

“The creation of more than 3,500 jobs by businesses in the Pensacola area is great news for families in Northwest Florida. We have been laser focused on making Florida the most business-friendly state in the nation and we will continue to fight every day to grow our economy and market our state as the best place to create new jobs and opportunities.”

The industries with the largest job gains in Pensacola over the year were leisure and hospitality with 1,500 new jobs and trade, transportation and utilities with 1,200 new jobs. The Pensacola area had 5,089 job openings in April, including 1,440 openings for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.

Santa Rosa County unemployment rate fell from 4.0 percent in March to 3.7 percent in April. Santa Rosa County had a total of  2,835 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 4.2 percent.

Florida’s jobless rate for April stood at 4.5 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from March, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The figures estimate there were 460,000 jobless Floridians in April — 25,000 fewer than a month earlier — out of a workforce that has grown over the past year by 371,000 to 10.14 million. But while pointing to the private sector growing by 15,000 jobs during the past month, Scott repeated his criticism of legislative decisions to reduce funding for tourism-marketer Visit Florida and to reject spending on business incentives through Enterprise Florida.

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

2 Responses to “Unemployment Rate Dropping”

  1. David Huie Green on May 22nd, 2017 10:47 am

    REGARDING:
    “Too bad we have to give half of what we work for back to the government.”

    They appreciate your contribution.

    David for cheerful taxpayers

  2. tax payer on May 21st, 2017 9:20 am

    Great… more jobs, more work. Too bad we have to give half of what we work for back to the government.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News