Florida Jobless Rate Unchanged

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent in June, while private-sector jobs were down 21,000 from May, according to a report released Friday by the state Department of Commerce.

The state estimated 415,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed in June, up 1,000 from May. Meanwhile, the workforce of 11.193 million shrank by 7,000 in the same time. The unemployment rate also was 3.7 percent in April and May, after inching up earlier in the year.

Jimmy Heckman, the Department of Commerce’s chief of workforce statistics and economic research, said it’s “too soon to tell” the reason for the first decline in jobs since October, when Florida was coming off back-to-back hits from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

“It is important to keep in mind that this is one month coming off the heels of some really strong job reports for a few months before this,” Heckman told reporters in a conference call. “And for most of the sectors that lost jobs this month, it was the first month that we had seen those sectors lose jobs in quite a while.”

Heckman said Florida has had “really strong” statistics for business formation and hiring.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what kind of trends develop as far as the private-sector industries go throughout the rest of the year,” Heckman said.

Economists have warned for months that federal economic policies are creating new costs and disruptions in global supply chains.

This month, state economists said tax-revenue gains in May were in large part due to people buying goods in anticipation of the effects of tariffs that have been a centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s policies.

The state’s June unemployment rate was up from 3.4 percent a year earlier. The national unemployment rate in June was 4.1 percent, down from 4.2 percent in May. The national rate in June 2024 was 4.1 percent.

Private-sector employment in Florida increased by 128,100 from June 2024 to last month, even with the decrease last month, according to seasonally adjusted numbers in the new report.

As examples In June, the broad category of leisure and hospitality was down by 8,100 jobs from May, while the category of business and professional services was down by 6,100 and construction was down by 1,600, according to the report.

Across the state, the lowest unemployment rate in June remained in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area at 3.2 percent, up from 3.1 percent in May. Within that region, the rate in the Miami-Miami-Beach-Kendall area was at 2.4 percent.

The June rate was 3.7 percent in the Crestview-Fort-Walton Beach-Destin area and 3.8 percent in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area.

The Panama City-Panama City Beach and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater areas were at 4 percent. The Naples-Marco Island area was at 4.1 percent. The Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville areas were at 4.2 percent.

The North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota and Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent areas were at 4.3 percent.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers was at 4.4 percent. The Port St. Lucie area was at 4.5 percent, while the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach and Gainesville areas were at 4.6 percent.

The highest rate in the state was 6.9 percent in the metropolitan statistical area that includes The Villages and Wildwood. The area was at 6 percent in May.

The Homosassa Springs area was at 5.8 percent in June, the Sebring area was at 5.6 percent, and the Punta Gorda area was at 5 percent. The Ocala, Lakeland-Winter Haven and Sebastian-Vero Beach areas were at 4.9 percent.

The statewide rate is seasonally adjusted, while the metro rates are not adjusted.