Florida’s unemployment rate rose to 11.7% in August, a gain of 0.2 percentage points from the prior month, according to the Agency for Workforce Innovation, the state’s employment reporting agency.
The jobless rate in August represents 1.08 million people out of a labor force of 9.22 million.
However, Florida’s annual job growth rate is up 0.4%, reflecting an increase of 29,800 jobs from a year earlier. The industries gaining the most jobs are private education and health services.
It is the second consecutive month the state showed positive growth after losing jobs for three years.
Though Florida’s unemployment rate has increased slightly, there are still positive indicators of recovery, said AWI director Cynthia Lorenzo.
“This is the second consecutive month with an increase in the number of jobs from the previous year,” Lorenzo said. “Historically, mixed signals from economic indicators during the bottom of a recession are common until the economy recovers. Fluctuations in rates of unemployment and job growth are typical examples.”
The industries losing jobs over the year included construction, financial activities, information, manufacturing, and government.
Florida has lost 831,600 jobs since the peak of the economy and real estate bubble, between January 2005 and January 2006, according to a recent long-range economic forecast prepared for lawmakers recently.
