Miniscule Improvement Here, Jefferson
By Lazaro Aleman
Special from ECB Publishing, Inc.
For the third consecutive month, Florida’s jobless rate remained stuck at 10.7 percent in August, while it dropped a fraction of a percentage point in Madison and Jefferson counties.
So show the latest unemployment statistics released by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) on Friday, Sept. 16. The state’s 10.7 percent unemployment rate translates into 987,000 jobless Floridians out of a workforce of 9,201,000. The U.S. unemployment rate, meanwhile, remained at 9.1 percent, the same as the previous month.
The statistics do not reflect those who have given up looking for work, for whatever reason, or those who are underemployed.
The figures show Florida’s seasonally adjusted total nonagricultural employment was 7,233,100 in August, “an increase of 9,900 jobs from July” and a gain of 71,600 jobs since January 2011, according to the AWI.
In Madison County, it was 12.3 percent, down from a revised 12.4 percent in July. In Jefferson County, the unemployment rate was 9.0 percent in August, down from a revised 9.1 percent in July.For Madison County, the 12.3 percent translates into 874 jobless persons out of a labor force of 7,125, compared with 889 jobless persons out of a labor force of 7,145 in July. In August 2010, the comparable figures were 860 jobless persons out of a labor force of 7,212, when the unemployment rate was 11.9 percent.
For Jefferson County, the 9.1 percent represents 593 jobless persons out of a labor force of 6,580, compared with 599 jobless persons out of a labor force of 6,593 in July. In August 2010, the comparable figures were 634 jobless persons out of a workforce of 6,626, when the unemployment rate was 9.6 percent.
Monroe County continued to have the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 6.7 percent, followed by Walton County at 7.0 percent; Liberty County at 7.1 percent; Okaloosa County at 7.4 percent; and Lafayette County at 7.7 percent.Hendry County continued to have the state’s highest unemployment rate at 17.9 percent, followed by Flagler County at 14.9 percent; Hernando and Indian River counties at 13.9 percent; and St. Lucie County at 13.7 percent.
The AWI reports that that 42 of Florida’s 67 counties experienced double digit unemployment in August, compared with 44 in July.
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