This portion was written by the staff at the News Service of Florida in Tallahassee.
Tallahassee, FL - Florida’s unemployment rate approached the end of 2019 at a historic low.
The rate fell to 3.1 percent in November, down from 3.2 percent in October and putting it at a mark hit twice in the past 40 years, most recently in March 2006, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office.
“Moving forward, I will continue to prioritize investments in Florida’s workforce and infrastructure to provide continued opportunities for our communities to be resilient and prepared for the future,” DeSantis said in a prepared statement.
When DeSantis was sworn into office in January, Florida’s unemployment rate stood at 3.5 percent, representing 352,000 Floridians out of work from a workforce of 10.3 million. The seasonally adjusted figure for November remained below the national unemployment rate of 3.5 percent.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported 323,000 Floridians were out of work in November from a workforce of 10.5 million. Over the past year, the education and health-services sectors have had the largest growth, adding 62,300 new positions.
Fields involving leisure and hospitality were up 38,100 jobs. Professional and business services were up 33,600, while construction was up 26,700.
Regionally, the metropolitan statistical area from Miami to West Palm Beach posted the most new workers, with 40,100 added over the last year, a 1.5 percent increase. Meanwhile, 24,400 new jobs were added over the past year in the Jacksonville area, representing a 3.4 percent increase.
The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area added 36,700 new jobs in the past year, a 2.8 percent increase. And the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area added 30,800 new workers, an increase of 2.2 percent.
This portion was written by News Daytona Beach's Patrick Murphy.
Between October and November of 2019, both Volusia and Flagler county saw a small drop of about 0.1% in unemployment.
But a bigger drop can be seen when it comes to annual comparisons.
According to the data released by CareerSource Flagler Volusia, the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) ended October with an unemployment rate of about 3.2%. That went down to 3.1% by the end of November.
When compared to November of 2018, a larger drop of 0.4% from 3.5% to 3.4%, can be seen. The labor force was 305,407, which is up 4,231 (1.4%) over the year. There were also 9,317 unemployed residents in the region.
In industry comparisons, the mining, logging, and construction (9%); leisure and hospitality (3.6%); and manufacturing (3.4%) industries grew faster in the metro area than statewide over the year.
And, according to CSFV, The Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach MSA was tied for the third-fastest annual job growth rate compared to all the metro areas in Florida for mining, logging, and construction.
It's too early to tell, but some are predicting a significant drop in unemployment coming to Volusia County in 2020.
This is after the eCommerce giant Amazon announced, after months of secrecy and speculation, that they are building a brand new 1 million square foot distribution center in Deltona, adjacent to I-4.
