Despite the job losses, the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%. One year ago the unemployment rate was 4.2%. The 3.6% is the lowest unemployment rate reported in Leon County since 2008.

The Leon County Jobs Report, listed below, indicates that 147,798 people were working in May 2017. This is 6,332 (4.5%) more than the 141,466 reported working in May of last year.

Also, the labor force expanded when compared to one year ago. In May 2017, the workforce was 153,316 compared to 147,656 last year.

At the state-level, Florida gained 39,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate decreased from to 4.1% in April to 4.0% in May.

At the national-level, the US gained 145,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1.

The chart below shows that monthly level of jobs in Leon County over the last three years.

Despite the job losses, the unemployment rate decreased from 3.9% in March to 3.6% in April. One year ago the unemployment rate was 4.2%. The 3.6% is the lowest unemployment rate reported in Leon County since 2008.

The report indicates that 148,576 people were working in April 2017. This is 5,886 (4.1%) more than the 142,690 reported working in April of last year.

Also, the labor force expanded when compared to one year ago. In April 2017, the workforce increased to 154,157 from 148,942 in April 2017.

At the state-level, Florida gained 38,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate decreased from to 4.4% in March to 4.0% in April.

At the national-level, the US gained 634,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate decreased from to 4.6% in March to 4.1% in April.

The chart below shows that monthly level of jobs in Leon County over the last three years.

The unemployment rate decreased from 4.1% in February to 3.9% in March.

The report indicates that approximately 6,400 more people were working in March of this year when compared to March of last year. The latest report shows that 149,095 people were employed in March, 2017. This a 4.3% increase over the 142,690 people employed during March of last year.

At the state-level, Florida gained 77,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate decreased from to 4.7% in February to 4.3% in March.

The chart below shows the monthly number of jobs and also a line tracking the three-month average of people employed.

The unemployment rate decreased from 5.1% in January to 4.3% in February.

The report indicates that approximately 5,000 more people were working in February of this year when compared to February of last year. The latest report shows that 147,380 people were employed in February, 2017. This a 3.4% increase over the 142,305 people employed during February of last year.

At the state-level, Florida gained jobs (120,000) in February and the unemployment rate decreased from to 5.2% in January to 4.7% in February.

The chart below shows the monthly number of jobs and also a line tracking the three-month average of people employed.

The unemployment rate increased from from 4.3% in December to 5.1% in January. This increase was due in part to an increase in the workforce.

The good news from the report is that approximately 4,800 more people were working in January of this year when compared to January of last year. The latest report shows that 144,465 people were employed in January, 2017. This a 3.4% increase over the 139,665 people employed during January of last year.

At the state-level, Florida gained jobs (11,605) in January. However, the unemployment rate increased from 4.7% in December to 5.2% in January.

The chart below shows the monthly number of jobs and also a line tracking the three-month average of people employed.

Approximately 2,934 more people were working in December of this year when compared to December of last year. The latest report shows that 144,672 people were employed in December, 2016. This a 1.85% increase over the 141,738 people employed during December of last year.

At the state-level, Florida gained jobs (41,000) in December. The unemployment rate decreased from 4.9% in November to 4.7% in December.

The chart below shows the monthly number of jobs and also a line tracking the three-month average of people employed.

The unemployment rate increased from the 4.8% reported in August to 4.9% in September. This increase was due to the substantial expansion of the Leon county workforce. The workforce increased from 146,887 in August to 151,468 in September.

Approximately 1,500 more people were working in September of this year when compared to September of last year. The latest report shows that 144,237 people were employed in September, 2016. There were 142,720 people employed during September of last year.

At the state-level, Florida also gained jobs (138,000) in September and the workforce expanded. The unemployment rate increased from 4.9% in August to 5.0% in September.

The chart below shows the monthly number of jobs and also a line tracking the three-month average of people employed.

With these gains, approximately 2,100 more people were working in July of this year when compared to July of last year. The latest report shows that 140,854 people were employed in July, 2016. There were 138,759 people employed during July of last year.

A look at recent trends bode well for the employment picture in the coming months.

For example, unlike last year Leon County added jobs in July. Also, during the first seven months of 2015, Leon County loss 2,700 jobs,  but added 2,980 from August through December. From January to July of 2016, Leon has lost 880 jobs – much less than last year.

The next three months could provide new highs in employment for Leon County  

The chart below shows the monthly number of jobs and also a line tracking the three-month average of people employed. The 3-month trend line indicates employment is clearly trending down. The chart also shows the rebound in employment that can be expected from July through September.

Click on image to enlarge.

However, looking back over the last 12 months, employment in Leon County has improved. The latest report shows that 141,610 people were employed in May, 2016. That is 1,536 more than the 140,074 people employed during May of last year.

The chart below shows the monthly number of jobs and also a line tracking the three-month average of people employed.

The 3-month trend line indicates employment is beginning to trend downward. Despite this downward trend, May’s employment numbers are still above the number of people employed at the start of the year.

The chart also shows that one year ago, during the period from March to July, Leon County was in the midst of four months of successive jobs losses. The next two months will reveal if this 2015 trend will occur in 2016.

She appeared on WFSU’s Perspectives show Thursday, April 7th with CRS member and local business owner Bobby Bacon.

Both Ms. Herman and Mr. Bacon argued that the lack of job growth in Leon county is hurting all residents and is in part due to the fiscal polices of the City of Tallahassee.

The Federal report, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in March of this year, shows that Leon County ranked last among the twenty-three largest counties in Florida in job growth for the 12-month period ending in September 2015.

The report ranked all US counties with populations greater than 75,000. The full report can be viewed here.

Listed below are the twenty-three Florida counties that made the list.

Lee and Osceola counties led the group with over 5% growth. North Florida counties were led by Duval-Jacksonville (3.6%), Okaloosa-Fort Walton (2.1%), Alachua-Gainesville (1.9%), Escambia-Pensacola (1.5%) and then Leon-Tallahassee (0.2%).

The CRS group is seeking a roll back in property taxes and plans to fully participate in the City of Tallahassee budget process for 2017 which begins on Wednesday, April 13 2015, with a budget workshop.

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.

We have had a number of readers ask about the cyclical nature of the Leon county job market.

More specifically, we have had readers ask if the decline in employment in 2015  is consistent with the yearly cyclical trends evident over the last few years.

TR decided to take a look.

The chart below shows a the graph of Leon county employment for the last three years ( 2012-light blue, 2013-yellow, & 2014-pink) and the first seven months of 2015 (dark blue). The cyclical trends are quite obvious from 2012-2014.

The cyclical trend can be described as adding jobs in first part of the year, February through April, losing jobs from May through July and adding jobs again from August through October.

However, while the February to April time shows job growth in  2012, 2013, & 2014, no such trend is evident in 2015.

In fact, during 2015, when jobs should have been added, based on past years, thousands of jobs were lost. 

The bar graph below shows how “out of cycle” the significant loss of jobs in Leon county was during the first of this year, from February to April.

The previous three years added over 1,800 jobs during this period, while during 2015, Leon county lost almost 2,000 jobs.

The graph above shows that 2015  has been consistent with the downward trend from May through July evident in prior years.

However, the bar graph below shows that during 2015, Leon county has lost significantly more jobs than any of the previous three years during the “down” period from May through July.

During this period, Leon county lost approximately 2,500 jobs.

So what about the next five months of 2015?

Based on the cyclical trends, Leon county has added a significant amount of jobs from the August through October time period.

Also, based on the previous three years, Leon county has ended the year with approximately 3,500 more jobs that it started with over the last three years.

Will this happen again this year?

To finish up 2015 with 3,500 more jobs than was reported in January of 2015, Leon county would have to add approximately 7,000 jobs during the “up-cycle” period from August to October.

The bar graph above shows that adding 7,000 jobs during this “up-cycle” period is significantly more than has been added during this period over the last three years.

Tallahassee Reports will publish the next employment report near the end of this month.