Leon County Adds 1,800 Jobs in February

The State of Florida employment reports for February were released today and show that Leon County added 1,800 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2%. and approximately 142,892 people were working.

This positive jobs report follows a positive report on single-family new construction trends in Leon County which can be viewed here. 

Last February, Leon County added approximately 900 jobs, 141,703 people were working and the unemployment rate was 5.0%   

At the state-level, The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported that Florida added 49,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 4.9% Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over the year in February were professional and business services with 52,200 new jobs; leisure and hospitality with 42,800 new jobs; trade, transportation, and utilities with 41,500 new jobs; and education and health services with 39,300 new jobs.

Earlier this month the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the US economy added 242,000 jobs in February.

For Leon County, the job growth is welcome news for an economy that has struggled to consistently add jobs over the last year. The chart below shows the erratic trend of jobs from month to month over the last two years.

The jobs added in February resulted in Leon County surpassing the employment level of 142,000 for the first time since October, 2015.

Click on image to enlarge.

  Leon county jobs