Florida’s monthly unemployment rate holds at 3.3% for four straight months

First-time unemployment claims dropped in Florida for the week ending June 22. Image via AP.

Florida’s monthly unemployment rate held steady at 3.3% for the fourth straight month in July, according to new FloridaCommerce numbers.

The four-month streak of a 3.3% unemployment rate represents a relatively stable employment picture for Florida most of this year. Before stabilizing at the 3.3% jobless figure in April, the unemployment rate had only modestly increased, with 0.1-percentage-point increases each month.

“Florida proves the economy can fare better with better leadership,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis. “If Washington reversed course and followed Florida’s lead, families and small businesses across America would be better off.”

Florida’s July unemployment rate of 3.3% is one percentage point lower than the national figure which is 4.3%. This is the 45th straight month that the Sunshine State has had a lower unemployment rate than the national figure.

“The federal government’s indecisive and fiscally irresponsible policies — including the decision of the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high — continue to cause chaos,” said Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly.

“Florida is the number one ecosystem for job creation in the world, continuing to instill confidence in job creators and job seekers with smart fiscal policies and economic stability, and is attracting record numbers of visitors to our state.”

In total, there were 366,000 Floridians out of work in July after seasonal adjustments, with the state’s workforce totaling 11.05 million workers. Florida’s leisure and hospitality industry gained the most jobs for the month by adding 11,200 jobs, a 0.9% increase over June.

Fort Lauderdale had the lowest jobless rate for a large metro area in Florida. The area recorded a 3.6% unemployment rate last month, an increase from June’s figure of 3.1%.

Jacksonville, Miami, Pensacola and West Palm Beach all recorded a 3.8% jobless figure.

The Southwest Florida region was mixed, with Fort Myers logging the highest unemployment rate among large metro markets at 3.9%. But Naples had a 3.7% unemployment figure.

Tampa had a 3.8% unemployment rate.

In July, there were 433,000 job openings posted online in Florida, which is more jobs advertised online than there were Floridians unemployed last month.