Florida has something to cheer about today! More jobs were created in Florida in September than any other state (net increase of 23,000 - seasonally adjusted); if you want to get picky, it was not the biggest in percentage terms (0.3% compared to Washington, D.C.'s 1.6%). Here's a link to the BLS site, which contains all the details.
Florida has added 93,500 jobs over the past year (placing it fourth behind California, Texas, and NY), an increase of 1.3% (outpacing the nation, which experienced a 1.1% increase in employment since September 2010). Most of the growth in employment has been due to two sectors: (1) leisure and hospitality, which added over 10,000 jobs in September and 58,500 in the last 12 months; and (2) education and health care, which added almost 8000 jobs last month and 33,000 in the last year.
The unemployment rate in Florida declined slightly to 10.6% (from 10.7% in August and 11.7% in September 2010). Florida is tied with Mississippi for the fifth highest unemployment rate in the nation, behind Nevada (13.4%), California (11.9%), Michigan (11.1%), and South Carolina (11%). North Dakota continues to shine with an unemployment rate of 3.5%.
What about Orlando? The unemployment rate declined to 10.2% (not seasonally adjusted), down from 11.6% in September 2010. Over the last year, Orlando has added 11,900 jobs, with one sector accounting for the increase - leisure and hospitality, which added 12,200 jobs over the last 12 months. Education and Health Care did add 3000 jobs while many other sectors experienced declines including construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and public utilities; information; and financial activities.
Overall, it's still not a pretty picture, but it does represent some improvement compared to where we stood in 2010.
