© 2024 WFSU Public Media
WFSU News · Tallahassee · Panama City · Thomasville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

February State Unemployment Rate Drops By One Tenth Of A Percent

Florida Unemployment Rate
Bureau of Labor Statistics

After three months in neutral, Florida’s unemployment rate is continuing its steady decline.  The rate dipped from 5.7 to 5.6 percent last month.

From November to January, Florida’s unemployment rate stayed steady at 5.7 percent.  A major part of that stagnation stems from a rapid increase in the labor market.  From December to January alone, the labor pool grew by more than 35,000.  But between January and February that growth dropped to only two thousand, and Department of Economic Opportunity Director Jesse Panuccio says demand for workers is higher than ever.

“Job demand, the number of openings, was also a record in February, 292,000 job openings across the state,” Pannucio says.  “That’s actually the all-time record for the state.”

With supply more or less steady and demand high, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent for February.  But the rate lags just behind the national rate of 5.5.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.