Florida’s unemployment rate fell to 2.7% in July, and the state added 70,000 new private-sector jobs, according to Governor Ron DeSantis’ Twitter account.
“We are here because we are proud that Florida is leading the way in economic recovery,” Governor Ron DeSantis began his speech at a press conference in North Venice, Florida.
“In the month of September, Florida reached a level of job growth that we have only seen four times in the last 30 years,” said the Governor.
Florida’s unemployment rate fell to 2.7% in July, matching the rate before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the economy in early 2020, officials said Friday. It fell from 2.8% in June to 4.5% in July 2021, amid signs of a slowing in inflation.
According to Adrienne Johnston, chief economist at the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the state economy continues to benefit from reopening earlier than other states following the initial pandemic hit.
“We continue to see strong consumer demand,” Johnston said during a conference call.
“As it grows, we will see an increase in employment.”
Florida was one of 14 states and the District of Columbia that saw a decrease in unemployment rates from June to July, with a national unemployment rate of 3.5%, according to the Department of Labor.
Florida had an unemployment rate of 2.7% in February 2020, just before the pandemic disrupted the economy, placing 282,000 people out of work.
The rate in the Orlando metro area was 3% in July, down from 3.2% the previous month.
As of May 2020, 1.4 million Floridians were unemployed, with the statewide unemployment rate reaching 13.9%. While Florida has recovered in terms of new jobs, Johnston claims that the types of jobs have changed.
According to the US Department of Labor, there are 588,000 job openings in Florida, 12,000 more than a year ago.
“This is less than the rate of increase in total employment, so the proportion of vacant jobs has decreased over the year,” Johnston explained. This suggests that staffing shortages are beginning to ease.
“Nationally, 194,000 jobs were created in September,” according to the governor.
84,500 of these were created in the state of Florida alone, nearly half of all jobs created in the United States.
