Local Unemployment Falls Slightly

August 21, 2017

The latest job numbers  show the employment rate falling slightly in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

Escambia County’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent in July, down slightly from 4.4 percent in June.  There were 6,195 people reported unemployed  during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 5.2 percent.

“Over the last year, more than 3,000 jobs were created for Pensacola families, which is great news. Our commitment to keeping taxes low has played a major role in turning around our economy and we will continue to fight to cut additional taxes and keep taxes low for generations to come,” Gov. Rick Scott said Friday.

The industries with the highest growth over the year in Pensacola were leisure and hospitality with 1,500 new jobs and professional and business services with 1,000 new jobs. The Pensacola area had 5,195 job openings in July, including 1,712 openings for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.

Santa Rosa County’s unemployment rate was at 4.2 percent in July, down from 4.2 percent in June. Santa Rosa County had a total of  3,281 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 4.9 percent.

Florida’s unemployment rate remained unchanged from June to July, holding at 4.1 percent, as the state reported a slight decline in the number of people working. The latest estimates, released by the state Department of Economic Opportunity, reflected about 411,000 Floridians out of work in July from a workforce of 10.1 million.

The state unemployment rate remains below the national rate of 4.3 percent. The state agency estimated a drop of 24,000 people in the overall workforce from June to July, while the number of people out of work fell by 9,000. Gov. Rick Scott used the monthly data release to say the state has created 1.4 million jobs since he took office, doubling a pledge from his 2010 campaign.

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.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News