Florida’s October unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent, down from the September rate of 4.8 percent.
“Florida’s economy continues to grow faster than the nation because we put the needs of Floridians and businesses first and make smart policy decisions that push back against heavy-handed mandates,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in a prepared statement.
DeSantis also touted Florida’s economic uptick by highlighting 18 months of private sector job growth. “In October, Florida created another 44,000 private sector jobs and unemployment continued to decline,” DeSantis tweeted.
In October, Florida created another 44,000 private sector jobs and unemployment continued to decline. Our state’s economy is growing faster than the nation because we keep our businesses open and push back against heavy-handed mandates. pic.twitter.com/eQZIutcDtm
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) November 19, 2021
The latest jobs report from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) shows overall high marks for Florida’s economy. For example, Florida’s labor force grew by 29,000 totaling nearly 10.6 million, and Florida’s private sector job growth was 0.6 percent, which outpaced the national average of 0.5 percent.
DEO Secretary Dane Eagle said he was glad to see DeSantis’ policies continue to positively impact Floridians.
“Florida continues to see job growth, increases in labor force, and a decline in unemployment rate thanks to Governor DeSantis’ policy decisions to protect Floridians and their jobs,” said Eagle. “Floridians and businesses remain confident in the state’s economy, and as evidence of that confidence, Florida’s current participation in the labor force of 10,590,000 is actually larger than Florida’s February 2020 labor force of 10,461,000.”
The report also noted that Florida has gained 1,111,000 jobs, which is nearly 89 percent of the jobs lost at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in April 2020.
Of the industries gaining the most jobs during the last month includes: leisure and hospitality with 16,600 new jobs; trade, transportation, and utilities with 10,400 new jobs; education and health services with 6,600 new jobs; other services with 4,200 new jobs; professional and business services with 3,700 new jobs.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at the Florida Capital Star and the Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “construction workers” by Elvert Barnes CC BY-SA 2.0.
