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Fla. unemployment at 30-year-low
The state added 31,000 jobs in January, pushing the unemployment rate
By SCOTT BARANCIK
Published March 9, 2006
to a rare 3 percent.
You'd have to move to Hawaii to find a lower unemployment rate than Florida's.
A federal report released Thursday found that Florida added 31,000 jobs in January 2006, more than any other state and enough to drive its unemployment rate to a 30-year low of 3 percent, down from 3.4 percent in December. The rate was 4.2 percent in January 2005.
On the local level, Pinellas' unemployment came in slightly higher, at 3.2 percent, while Hillsborough's was 3 percent. Hernando, Citrus and Pasco counties recorded rates of 4.1 percent, 3.5 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.
Only perennial leader Hawaii delivered a lower unemployment rate than Florida, at 2.4 percent. The national average was 4.7 percent.
Florida's job growth continued a trend. It has added a U.S.-high 302,500 jobs since January 2005. Most of the jobs came from four broad sectors: professional and business services (23 percent), construction (18 percent), leisure and hospitality (12 percent) and retail (12 percent). Data on the quality of the jobs, including average wages, were not available Thursday.
Many other states saw improvement in January.
Unemployment rates fell in 47 of 50 states and Washington, D.C. They ranged from 2.4 percent in Hawaii to 8.4 percent in Mississippi.
Though Florida created the most jobs during the month, seven states had a larger percentage increase, with Nebraska and Louisiana at the top.
Louisiana, hit hard by Hurricane Katrina last year, showed the most dramatic recovery. Its jobless rate fell from 12.1 percent in November to 4.8 percent two months later.
Only a handful of states lost jobs in January, mostly in the Midwest. Michigan, Illinois and Ohio suffered the biggest losses.
Florida had 14.1-million residents as of January, according to survey data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.
Of those, 8.8-million were available for work, 8.5-million had jobs and 267,000 were unemployed.
Times staff writer Scott Barancik can be reached at barancik@sptimes.com or 727 893-8751.
[Last modified March 9, 2006, 22:47:02]
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