Governor Rick Scott announced today that Jacksonville area businesses created 17,900 new private-sector jobs over the year in January. The area’s unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in January. Florida businesses created 260,600 new private-sector jobs across the state in the last year, bringing the total number of jobs created since December 2010 to 1,343,100.
Governor Scott said, “Our work to create a business-friendly environment has paid off in Jacksonville as nearly 18,000 new jobs have been added in the last year. We will continue fighting to grow business and strengthen Florida’s economy so that every Floridian can find a great job in our state.”
The industries with the most job growth in the Jacksonville area over the year were education and health services with 4,800 new jobs and trade, transportation and utilities with 3,100 new jobs. The Jacksonville area remains among the top five metro areas in job demand, with 17,145 openings, while ranking fourth in the state for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations with 5,033 job openings.
Statewide, Florida businesses created 50,700 new private-sector jobs in January and the unemployment rate was 5 percent. For the 58th consecutive month, Florida’s annual job growth rate of 3.6 percent is also exceeding the nation’s rate of 1.8 percent. Nearly 32,000 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Northeast Florida and the state’s other 23 regional workforce boards.
To view the January 2017 employment data visit
www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.