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Gov. Rick Scott Passes One Million Jobs

Florida has added more than one million jobs since Gov. Scott took office.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health via wikimedia commons

State officials say Florida added almost 36,000 private sector jobs in November.  That pushes the mark for Florida Governor Rick Scott’s tenure just past one million jobs.

After months trailing the federal unemployment rate, in November Florida pulled up level at five percent.  Officials revised October’s figures up by a tenth of a percent.  But state jobs Chief Jesse Pannucio is more interested in the number of jobs added.

“We added 35,600 private sector jobs over the month,” Panuccio says, “and that now puts us in just shy of five years over the one million jobs mark in private sector growth.”

Before Scott took office state economists predicted Florida would add one million jobs over the course of a decade.  In response, Scott shifted his campaign promise to 700,000 jobs in seven years—above normal growth.  If the current rate holds Scott might make that mark.

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.