Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida businesses have created 1,615,500 jobs since December 2010 with 20,000 private-sector jobs being added in August. Over the past year, 217,600 new private-sector jobs were created in Florida, and the state’s annual job growth rate has outpaced the nation for 76 of the past 77 months. The Governor announced Florida’s employment numbers at Promise in Brevard, an assisted living community that provides young adults with special needs a place to live and work.
Governor Scott said, “The Florida turnaround story continues with another milestone being achieved – 1.6 million jobs created in under 8 years. Floridians should be proud of this accomplishment and the entire nation should take note – by cutting taxes and creating a positive environment for business, we’ve grown our economy. We’ll never stop fighting for job creation.”
In August, Florida’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at a low 3.7 percent, a drop of 7.1 percentage points since December 2010; this drop is faster than the national decline of 5.4 percentage points.
Florida’s annual job growth rate of 2.9 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.9 percent. In the past year, 121,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.2 percent, which nearly doubled the national labor force growth rate of 0.7 percent.
Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “The creation of more than 1.6 million new private-sector jobs is not an accident. Florida businesses are confident in our business-friendly environment and talented workforce, and programs like Promise in Brevard are great examples of the investments businesses are making in our state.”
Other positive economic indicators include:
- Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over-the-year were:
- Leisure and hospitality with 54,600 new jobs;
- Construction with 39,300 new jobs;
- Education and health services with 29,300 new jobs;
- Professional and business services with 28,400 new jobs;
- Trade, transportation and utilities with 23,600 new jobs; and
- Financial activities with 19,400 new jobs.
- Florida job postings showed 238,082 openings in August 2018.
- Consumer Sentiment Index is 98.3, up from 70.2 in December 2010.
To view the August 2018 employment data, click here.
