State Jobless Rate at 3.7 Percent

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s unemployment rate increased to 3.7 percent in April, the third time it has ticked up this year.

The Florida Department of Commerce on Friday released a report showing an estimated 410,000 people were out of work in April from a labor force of 11.203 million. The 3.7 percent rate was up from 3.6 percent in February and March.

The rate was 3.5 percent in January, an increase from 3.4 percent in December. It was 3.3 percent in April 2024.

The number of people qualified as unemployed increased by 7,000 in April and was 46,000 higher than in April 2024, the report showed. Meanwhile, the labor force increased by 5,000 people in April and was up by 57,000 from April 2024.

Jimmy Heckman, the Department of Commerce’s chief of workforce statistics and economic research, called the unemployment-rate increase a “steady trend.”

“What would worry me is something that’s accelerated,” Heckman told reporters Friday. “It’s very stable. It’s still lower than the national rate. A sub-4 percent unemployment rate, at pretty much anytime, is going to signal a very good labor market. I don’t see that as a sign for concern.”

The national unemployment rate in April was 4.2 percent, up from 3.9 percent a year earlier.

Florida’s April numbers were bolstered by employment in a broad category of education and health services, which grew by 8,000 from March. A sub-category of health care and social assistance made up 7,700 of that increase.

Employment in a category of professional and business services positions increased by 7,400, while a category of leisure and hospitality increased by 3,800. Employment in a sub-category of accommodation and food services increased by 5,200, which Heckman attributed to “late seasonal hiring.”

Employment in manufacturing was down by 2,000 jobs.

Across the state, the lowest unemployment rate in April remained in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area at 3 percent, down from 3.1 percent in March. Within that region, the rate in the Miami-Miami-Beach-Kendall area was at 2.7 percent.

The April rate was 3.3 percent in the Crestview-Fort-Walton Beach-Destin and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metropolitan statistical areas, while it was 3.5 percent in the Jacksonville, Naples-Marco Island, Panama City-Panama City Beach, Tallahassee and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater regions.

The rate was 3.7 percent in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville and Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent metropolitan statistical areas.

The highest rate in the state was 6.3 percent in the metropolitan statistical area that includes The Villages and Wildwood. The Homosassa Springs area was at 5.2 percent, the Sebring area was at 4.8 percent, the Punta Gorda area was at 4.4 percent, the Ocala area was at 4.3 percent and the Lakeland-Winter Haven and Sebastian-Vero Beach areas were at 4.2 percent.

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