Briefs: Many counties counting more unemployed

New state numbers came out Friday showing which Florida counties were rockin' - employmentwise - and which were sagging in rocking chairs.

By Times Staff
Published March 9, 2008

Many counties counting more unemployed

New state numbers came out Friday showing which Florida counties were rockin' - employmentwise - and which were sagging in rocking chairs. In January 2008, Liberty County had the state's lowest unemployment rate (3.1 percent), followed by Alachua and Monroe counties (3.2 percent each). Flagler County, at 7.8 percent, had the highest unemployment rate in Florida in January, followed by Hendry County (7.2 percent) and Hernando County (7 percent). Here's how Tampa Bay area counties fared in employment in January 2008 compared to January 2007: Pinellas, 4.7 vs 3.7 percent; Hillsborough, 4.7 vs 3.7 percent; Pasco, 5.8 vs. 4.6 percent; Hernando, 7 vs. 5.2 percent; and Manatee, 4.7 vs. 3.4 percent.

Just a month away from cash collapse

A University of Central Florida study out last week finds in a survey of 1,400 Central Florida residents that 56 percent of low-income respondents said they could not pay their bills if they missed one month's pay. And 38 percent of middle-income respondents and 24 percent of upper-income respondents made that same claim.

"The real surprise in our data is how far into the middle-income categories financial hardship and anxiety have penetrated," wrote UCF sociologists James Wright and Jana Jasinski. Some highlights from the "Poverty in Central Florida" survey:

- 25 percent of low-income, 14 percent of middle-income and 10 percent of upper-income families said they are so far in debt that they feel "they will never be able to get out."

- 49 percent of low-income people reported that they are working, 16 percent each are disabled or retired and 9 percent are students or housewives. Only 10 percent are laid off, unemployed or otherwise economically idle.

[Last modified March 7, 2008, 22:06:02]