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Florida has been a bright spot in the national employment picture.
In February, the most recent month for which data are available, Florida's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, down from 5.3 percent a year earlier. Nonfarm jobs in the state grew by 131,400 during the same 12-month period.
The unemployment rate was even lower in the Tampa Bay area: 3.8 percent in February, down from 4.5 percent the prior year.
State and local data for March won't be available until April 16. But anecdotal information suggests modest improvement.
The number of Floridians making new claims for unemployment benefits in March was 49,844, down 3.2 percent from a year earlier. Warren May, spokesman for the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, said the reduction suggests "a further solidification of the job market" and possibly an increase in the labor force, the number of people working or actively looking for work.
May also said the state's one-stop career centers - where individuals can search job databases, polish a resume or apply for unemployment benefits - were unusually active in March. That, he said, suggests out-of-work Floridians may be gaining confidence about their ability to find work.
But Drema Howard, career center director at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said competition for entry-level jobs in the bay area is fierce, with recent college graduates battling "seasoned professionals" who are out of work.
"Overall, we're seeing some slight increase in terms of (job) opportunities coming out there," Howard said, "but we haven't yet seen it significant enough to indicate that we've turned the corner."