Governor Rick Scott announced today that Jacksonville area businesses created 28,700 new private-sector jobs over the year in September. The area’s unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in September, a decline of 0.4 percentage point in the last year. Florida businesses created 17,900 private-sector jobs across the state during September 2016, bringing the total number of jobs created since December 2010 to 1,222,500 jobs.
Governor Scott said, “The Jacksonville area continues to be a great place for job creators and families to succeed. Nearly 29,000 jobs were created in the past year which is great news. We will continue to do all we can to help Florida outcompete other locations for new jobs so Florida can become first in the nation for job growth.”
The industries with the largest job gains in the Jacksonville area over the year were leisure and hospitality with 6,100 new jobs and education and health services with 5,100 new jobs. The Jacksonville area remains among the top five metro areas in job demand, with 19,019 openings, including 5,425 job openings in high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.
Florida’s statewide unemployment rate remained at 4.7 percent, the lowest rate since November 2007. For the 54th consecutive month, Florida’s annual job growth rate of 3.6 percent is also exceeding the nation’s rate of 1.9 percent. More than 32,000 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Northeast Florida and the state’s other 23 regional workforce boards.
To view the September 2016 employment data visit
www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.