TAMPA, Fla. — Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Tampa area added 28,400 new private-sector jobs in the last year, continuing to create the second-highest number of jobs among all Florida metro areas. The Tampa area also continues to rank first in the state in demand for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations with 14,839 openings in November. Tampa’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent, down 1.0 percentage point from one year ago. Statewide, Florida businesses created 13,900 new jobs in November and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent, the lowest rate in more than a decade. Since December 2010, Florida businesses have created 1,465,800 new private-sector jobs.
Governor Scott said, “It is great news that the Tampa Bay area, like the rest of the state, continues to have strong economic growth with more than 28,000 new jobs created over the year. It is clear that Tampa Bay continues to be a great place for businesses to grow and create jobs.”
The industries with the highest growth over the year in Tampa were:
- Professional and business services with 5,900 new jobs;
- Construction with 5,300 new jobs; and
- Other services with 5,200 new jobs.
The Tampa area remained first among the state metro areas in job demand in November with 44,792 openings.
In the last year, 199,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 2.0 percent. This rate is nearly three times the national labor force growth rate of only 0.7 percent. In November, 16,990 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Tampa Bay and the state’s other 23 local workforce boards.
To view the November 2017 employment data visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.
