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Florida's unemployment rate is 10.8%, the lowest it has been since September 2009, and the first time since October 2009 that fewer than 1 million people are without jobs, according to the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
While the state's official rate is seasonally adjusted, the raw data show over-the-year improvement in the labor market. According to agency numbers, Florida's economy added roughly 47,000 jobs during the past year.
Additionally, first-time claims of unemployment benefits decreased by 22.3% in the month of April compared to last year. Year-to-date first-time claims are down 11.6% compared to 2010, the agency says.
Unemployment is down by nearly a full percentage point in each of the nine counties covered by the Business Review. Collier County's rate is the only one below 10%, at 9.7%, but all except one are below 11% — only Pasco, at 11.6%, fails to meet that criterion.
Despite the declines, however, few Gulf Coast economies are actually creating jobs. In fact, the three Tampa Bay area counties were the only ones that saw positive job growth over the year, with 4,871 jobs added in Hillsborough, 3,588 in Pinellas and 1,570 in Pasco.
The other counties' rates were pushed down by smaller labor forces relative to last year. While the region added 7,468 net jobs, its labor force shrank by 17,216 people, clearly having a much larger effect on the unemployment rate.
Additional county-by-county employment numbers are provided below.
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