Brevard Employment Up – Who’s Responsible?
By Space Coast Daily // April 21, 2013
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(ABOUT VIDEO: FLChamber) Florida Governor Rick Scott: “In a little over two years since I’ve taken office, we’ve created more than 320,000 private sector jobs – and we are now closing in on the halfway point to our goal of creating 700,000 jobs in seven years.”
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Florida Governor Rick Scott announced last Friday that more than 32,000 private-sector jobs were created in Florida in March.
Florida’s March 2013 unemployment rate was 1.4 percentage points lower than the year-ago rate of 8.9 percent.
That translates to a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate that dropped 0.3 percentage (to 7.5 percent) – Florida’s lowest unemployment rate since October 2008 and the second largest drop in the nation as of February of this year.
“It is great news that our unemployment rate is below the national average at 7.5 percent and that we created more than 32,000 jobs in March,” said Scott.
SPACE COAST UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS .06 PERCENT
The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate on the Space Coast dropped 0.6 percent (to 7.4 percent) in March 2013 from 8.0 percent in February 2013, compared to the Florida statewide unemployment rate of 7 percent. The Space Coast’s year-over-year unemployment rate is two points lower, with 19,646 unemployed in Brevard County last month.
Space Coast job growth was most robust in the tourism and leisure industry (900), education and health (800), mining, logging, and construction (600) and professional and business services (400). Industries losing jobs included manufacturing (-200), and and trade, transportation and utilities (-100).
“In a little over two years since I’ve taken office, we’ve created more than 320,000 private sector jobs – and we are now closing in on the halfway point to our goal of creating 700,000 jobs in seven years,” said Scott.
“These numbers prove that it’s working in Florida and our families have opportunities to live their version of the American Dream in the Sunshine State. In Florida, our economy is turning around because we focus every day on creating new jobs for our families.”
• Florida Counties With Lowest Unemployment
In March 2013, Monroe County (3.8 percent) had the state’s lowest unemployment rate, followed by Walton County (4.3 percent), Okaloosa County (4.8 percent), Alachua County (5.1 percent), and St. Johns County (5.3 percent). Many of the counties with the lowest unemployment rates were those with relatively high proportions of government employment. Strong population growth was also a contributing factor.
• Florida Counties With Highest Unemployment
Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate (10.0 percent) in Florida in March 2013, followed by Flagler County (9.5 percent), Putnam County (9.4 percent), Miami-Dade County (9.2 percent), and St. Lucie County (8.8 percent). Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate in the state mainly due to long-term losses in state government jobs. Hendry County was the only county in Florida with a double-digit unemployment rate in March. In February, three counties had jobless rates above 10.0 percent.
