Lazaro Aleman
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 4.7 percent in June, which is the same as it was in May and is 0.2-percentage point down from the national rate, which was 4.9 percent.
These figures come from the latest employment figures released by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO).
The report shows Madison County with a 5.3 percent jobless rate in June, up from 4.7 percent in May. For Jefferson County, the jobless rate was 5.3 percent, up from a revised rate of 4.9 percent in May (originally reported as 4.8 percent).
Statewide, 453,000 Floridians were jobless in June out of a labor force of 9,744,000 — not counting persons who had given up the job search, were underemployed, or employed part time.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted total nonagricultural employment, meanwhile, was 8,324,500 in June — an increase of 9,800 jobs over the month, according to the FDEO.
Seasonally adjusted means that the numbers have been purged of seasonal and other factors that could skew the results. The numbers for the individual counties, however, are not seasonally adjusted.
For Madison County, the 5.3 percent translates into 396 jobless persons in June out of a labor force of 7,413, compared with 351 jobless persons out of a labor force of 7,456 in May, when the rate was 4.7 percent. All told, 7,017 people were employed in Madison County in June, compared with 7,105 in May.
In June 2015, the comparable figures were 471 jobless persons out of a labor force of 7,489 and 7,018 employed when the unemployment rate was 6.3 percent.
For Jefferson County, the 5.3 percent translates into 287 jobless persons out of a labor force of 5,385, compared with 262 jobless persons out of a labor force of 5,400 in May, when the rate also was 4.9 percent. All told, 5,098 people were employed in Jefferson County in June, compared with 5,138 in May.
In June 2015, the comparable figures were 335 jobless persons out of a workforce of 5,064 and 5,085 employed when the unemployment rate was 6.2 percent.
Statewide, the industry gaining the most jobs was professional and business services, up 48,400 jobs, followed by education and health services, up 43,500 jobs; leisure and hospitality, up 42,400 jobs; trade, transportation and utilities, up 35,900 jobs; construction, up 25,500 jobs; financial activities, up 18,500 jobs; government, up 17,600 jobs; manufacturing, up 11,300 jobs; and other services, up 3,500 jobs.
The only industry that continued to lose jobs over the year was information, and it is down 2,000 jobs.
Monroe County continued to have the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 3.1 percent, followed by Hamilton County and St. Johns counties at 3.7 percent; and Okaloosa County at 4.0 percent.
Hendry County continued to have the state’s highest unemployment rate at 10.0 percent, followed by Citrus and Highland counties at 6.8 percent.