Florida unemployment

State economists have pointed to new entrants to the job market needing more time to find work, as opposed to people losing their jobs as one of the culprits behind the rise in the jobless rate.

A state official said workers are remaining at jobs longer than they did a few years ago.

The estimated 295,000 Floridians out of work in mid-July is an increase of around 5,000 from the previous month.

Despite plenty of dire forecasts for the economy this year, there has been no recession. And Florida’s economy has been a growing bright spot. Yet, inflation remains stubbornly higher than the rest of the nation.

Florida's unemployment rate has remained at 2.6 percent since January, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity.

The unemployment rate dropped to 2.5% in December, down from 2.6% in November.

The November rate of 2.6% was down from 2.7% in October. An estimated 280,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed in November.

October's jobless rate was 2.7%, up from a historic low of 2.5% in September.

Between September 2021 and September 2022, Florida’s labor force grew by 316,000, or 3%.

That's down from 3.2% in March. Gov. DeSantis said Florida picked up about 57,000 private-sector jobs last month.

Money for the program came from $1.4 billion allocated to Florida by the U.S. Department of the Treasury last year.

He warned that the Biden administration "plunges this country into a recession."