Florida’s jobless rate ticks up in March to 3.2%, still lower than national number
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unemployment
Florida's March unemployment rate was still lower than the national figure of 3.8% in March.

The Sunshine State’s jobless rate ticked up slightly in March, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO).

The unemployment rate was 3.2% across the state last month.

That’s a 0.1% increase over February.

March’s figure is up even more in the year-over-year comparison, meaning a 0.4% jump over March 2024.

In total, there were about 353,000 Floridians on the unemployment roll last month out of some 11 million people in the state’s workforce. Florida’s unemployment rate was still lower than the national figure of 3.8% last month.

Despite the nominal uptick in the jobless figure, there were some bright spots for the workforce last month. The education and health services fields saw notable additions to those sectors increasing by 62,000 jobs in the past year, a 4.3% jump.

Trade, transportation and utilities industries also saw notable increases in workers jumping 2.2% in increased employees or a bump of 42,000 jobs in Florida since March 2023.

Professional and business service jobs saw the most notable decrease in Florida jobs over the past year, according to FDEO. The number of those jobs fell by 4,700 or 0.3% since March 2023. Information jobs also dipped by 0.1% or a decrease by 100 workers in the past year.

Miami-Dade County clocked in with the state’s lowest unemployment rate of 2%. That was followed by Monroe County at 2.1% and Okaloosa County at 3%.

Citrus County had the dubious distinction of having the state’s highest jobless figure with 5.1% of that county’s workers out of work. Both Hardee County and Hendry County were tied for the second highest unemployment rate in Florida at 4.8% and Sumter County was third highest at 4.7%, according to FDEO.

Drew Dixon

Drew Dixon is a journalist of 40 years who has reported in print and broadcast throughout Florida, starting in Ohio in the 1980s. He is also an adjunct professor of philosophy and ethics at three colleges, Jacksonville University, University of North Florida and Florida State College at Jacksonville. You can reach him at [email protected].


5 comments

  • Earl Pitts "RON'S OFFICIAL "UNOFFICIAL VPOTUS CAMPAIGN MANAGER" American

    April 20, 2024 at 5:01 pm

    Good evening America,
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  • Richard D

    April 20, 2024 at 9:36 pm

    Unless stated clearly, a reader should assume that the official employment/unemployment numbers are based on full-time jobs only. In totality, the actual number of unemployed workers is probably much higher than shown in official jobs statistics. The real number of unemployed workers may be as high as 25 percent. Full-timers who lose their jobs are dropped from the headline statistics. Part-timers and those with temporary jobs aren’t included in the official, headline jobs numbers although some might be included in alternative (e.g., U6) jobs statistics – away from the headlines. The headline number is important because it influences public perceptions of how well or poorly the politicians and government are performing.

    • rick whitaker

      April 21, 2024 at 12:42 pm

      RICHARD D, i agree with you, florida is a hell hole

Comments are closed.


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