Drew Dixon
Florida’s monthly unemployment rate finished 2024 on a high note. The December jobless rate held steady at 3.4%
FloridaCommerce found there was no change from the November unemployment rate. While the percentage of the unemployed remained the same, the number of jobs added over the previous month was notable.
December saw 17,900 private-sector jobs added compared to November. The number pf private jobs compared to year ago has increased by 122,800. It was an increase that outpaced the national private sector job growth of 1.3% in the same time span.
“Under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decisive leadership, Florida continues to make gains for job seekers and job creators, maintaining economic stability for the workforce and creating confidence in capital for job creators,” Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly said. “The Governor’s commitment to E-Verify, for example, has overlapped with a surge in tourism-related employment, proving that we can both protect our workforce and businesses from bad actors, and simultaneously see our job numbers grow.”
Miami, for several months in a row, has held on to the lowest unemployment rate in the state. The South Florida hub scored a jobless figure of 2.5% in December. While that’s the lowest metro jobless figure in the state, it was a slight uptick from November’s rate of 2.4% and a jump from December 2023, which saw a staggering low of 1.6%.
Fort Lauderdale’s metro area was near the Miami unemployment rate, at 2.9% in December, up only 0.1% from November figure and from December 2023.
Pensacola and Tampa metro areas tied for the highest unemployment rates in the state, both coming in at 3.2% in December.
Other areas of note include Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Orlando. All of those metropolitan areas recorded monthly unemployment figures of 3% in December.
Florida’s December unemployment rate continues the state’s streak of remaining lower than the national average. It’s been 50 months straight that Sunshine State unemployment has been below the national level, which is now 4.1%.
One comment
Kristina Fletcher
January 28, 2025 at 7:06 am
The only reason Floridas Unemployment rate is so low is because Florida denies everyone benefits, specifically Including disaster unemployment which is the craziest thing ever. My vacation rental cleaning business was shut down after Milton and after 3 months of waiting for absolutely no reason for the adjudication interview where they asked me to verify basic information, confirmed that they had the required documents and then another month later was denied for not submitting the same documents, but wait it gets better, I appeal and wait another month, by this point I’ve lost my house and was about to lose my car, I win my appeal hearing, go online to claim the following weeks benefits and my account is back on hold waiting adjudication AGAIN. Please tell me how I can win the appeal and still be getting screwed, after a disaster…. Insane! After finally getting someone on the phone I was lied to and told I check the wrong box, I had the papers printed in front and the box was checked correctly, then they told me “it doesn’t matter your account is on hold” left a msg for supervisor never heard a word back. What the Florida unemployment office is doing is fraudulent and someone needs to step in because that money is going to something and it’s not the unemployed disaster survivors