Job market news has been a mixed bag for many states, but in Florida the news was dismal as the state braced to hear that Florida unemployment had increased.
Florida is still recovering from the housing meltdown and remains one of the nation’s weakest job markets. Unemployment remained well above the national rate of 9.5 percent. And the state had the nation’s fifth-worst jobless rate, trailing only Nevada, Michigan, California and Rhode Island.
The rate increased to 11.5% in July, which was unpleasant but not unexpected. That is up from 11.4% from June, accordng to the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
But in Metro Orlanda unemployment rose to 11.5%, which is above the state average.
But in a more optimistic note, hiring picked up statewide. The number of jobs in Florida rose by 2,700 from a year ago. The number of jobs in the state increased 5,700 from June to July.
Martin County unemployment increased to 12.3 percent from 11.7 percent the previous month. St. Lucie County’s jobless rate spiked to 15.2 percent, third-highest among the state’s 67 counties.
In another sign of the job market’s weakness, 49 Florida counties had double-digit unemployment rates in July, up from 46 the previous month.
Among the sectors adding positions: private education and health services (36,700 jobs), government (8,800), professional and business services (8,000) and trade, transportation, and utilities (5,100).