Figures released Thursday show Florida’s unemployment rate remained flat at 7.1 percent in June. State officials say although the rate remains the same, the workforce is steadily growing.
Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Jesse Panuccio said the state’s unemployment sits below the national average for the fourth month in a row. He says the labor force has grown by about 50,000 workers since the beginning of the year, but some area like the manufacturing sector have been slow to grow.
“With respect to manufacturing, that is something that we tried to remedy through policy changes, for example the cut in taxes for manufacturers that the governor pushed through last session—it’s one of the things that we’re trying to do to reverse that trend," he said.
Panuccio said the state added 7,000 workers in June. The fastest-growing sectors are trade, transportation and utilities.