Gray Rohrer
Florida added 28,100 jobs in November and its unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 2.6%, a new monthly jobs report released by the state shows.
The numbers put the state’s job creation rate over the previous 12 months at 4.7% — or 1.4 points higher than the national rate — in that time.
“Florida’s continued success over the past two years is no accident. No matter the challenges, we have stayed on offense,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a released statement.
“Florida’s economy is outpacing the nation for the second consecutive year because we have invested in our workforce and prioritized keeping Floridians at work and businesses open. As the new year approaches, we will continue investing in our workforce and infrastructure to create jobs and keep our economy moving forward.”
There are now 280,000 unemployed residents in Florida out of a workforce of 10.8 million.
Tourism, Florida’s top industry, has continued to surge after rebounding from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. About 97,000 leisure and hospitality jobs have been added in the last 12 months, the most of any sector. It was followed by trade, transportation and utilities (85,400 jobs) and education and health services (76,800 jobs).
Some areas of the economy suffered last month, however, as the seasonally adjusted numbers show the state shedding 3,000 finance and insurance jobs and 4,700 waste service jobs. Both sectors, though, are up over the last year.
“While D.C. liberals and blue states are still exacerbating their self-inflicted inflation and supply chain woes, Gov. DeSantis has continued his charge for Freedom First policies, and as a result Florida is literally hedging against a recession, growing its workforce, supporting new businesses and innovation, and leading the nation’s economic recovery,” outgoing Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary Dane Eagle said in a released statement.
“People vote with their feet, and folks are running to the free state of Florida as fast as they can.”
