Rick Scott: Florida unemployment lowest in decade

Gov. Rick Scott said ‘let there be jobs’—and there were jobs. And the jobs numbers were good.

In fact, in one key metric—the official unemployment rate—the numbers were the best in a decade.

Florida’s unemployment rate “has dropped to its lowest rate in 10 years and nearly 18,000 new jobs were created for families across the state in June,” Scott said in a statement.

In a release with a Las Vegas byline (where Scott is today for economic development meetings with Zappos, Allegiant Air, and other companies), the Governor’s Office noted that Florida’s unemployment rate of 4.1 percent in June is the lowest since June 2007.

As many as 18,000 new private-sector jobs were created in June, part of the nearly 1.4 million such jobs created since December 2010.

And the private sector job growth rate, a healthy 3.1 percent, is nearly double that of the nation’s rate of 1.7 percent. It’s no surprise Scott wants to keep the momentum going.

“Our newly established $85 million Florida Job Growth Grant Fund will keep Florida on track to becoming the national leader for job growth,” he said. “I encourage businesses interested in growing in Florida to learn more about the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund today.”

Department of Economic Opportunity director Cissy Proctor attributed the boon to Florida’s “pro-growth policies.”

Moreover, Orlando in particular continues to lead the state in job creation, Scott said.

“It is great news that the Orlando area continues to lead the state in job creation with more than 46,000 new jobs created over the past year,” he said.

“I am proud to meet with Allegiant Air today to recognize their continued investment in Florida,” he added. “While this national company could have chosen any location for their new training center, they ultimately decided that Florida was the best place to grow their business and create new jobs.”

Allegiant houses its East Coast Training Center at Orlando/Sanford International Airport, and is responsible for 15,000 jobs in Florida, according to the Governor’s Office.

Further, there are nearly a quarter-million job openings in Florida now, Governor’s Office statistics show. June saw nearly 23,000 people placed in jobs in the Sunshine State, according to the state’s regional workforce boards.