Florida Jobless Rate Stays at 3.3 Percent

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s unemployment rate remained at 3.3 percent in August as retirements continue to outpace efforts to grow the labor force.

The Florida Department of Commerce on Friday estimated 368,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed in August, up 2,000 from July, while the work force of 11.044 million people decreased by 12,000.

The state’s unemployment rate has been 3.3 percent since April. The national rate in August was 4.2 percent.

Jimmy Heckman, the department’s chief of workforce statistics and economic research, said workers are remaining at jobs longer than they did a few years ago.

“That is kind of slowing down some of that rapid movement to and from jobs, to and from employment and unemployment, and causing the unemployment rate to stabilize,” Heckman told reporters in a conference call.

Heckman also attributed the slight drop in the labor force to retirements among Baby Boomers and members of Generation X who are older than 55. To counter the retirements, Heckman said the state has seen growth in workers ages 25 to 45.

“Florida has really implemented a lot of workforce and infrastructure development policies to prepare the next generation of workers to replace some of the retiring workers,” Heckman said.

The state’s unemployment rate in August 2023 was 3 percent, while the national mark was 4.2 percent.

From August 2023 to August 2024, the number of unemployed people in Florida increased by 40,000, while the labor force increased by 7,000.

The new numbers show employment in the leisure and hospitality category continues to increase, adding 7,300 positions from July to August, mostly in the food service industry. Also, as the new school year got underway, employment in the education and health services category was up by 3,900. Employment in construction grew by 1,000 jobs.

But many other sectors posted month-to-month declines, with manufacturing employment down by 3,900 positions and the professional and business services category down 7,800.

The statewide unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted, while rates for metropolitan statistical areas are not seasonally adjusted.

The Panama City and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin areas had the lowest unadjusted rates in August at 3.3 percent. The Miami-Fort-Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area was next at 3.4 percent.

The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area was at 3.6 percent, followed by the Jacksonville, Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater areas at 3.7 percent.

The highest rate was in the Homosassa Springs area at 5.5 percent, while the Sebring area was at 5.3 percent and The Villages area was at 5.2 percent.