TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Governor Rick Scott announced today that Florida businesses added more private-sector jobs in January than any other state. In January, Florida businesses created 50,700 new private-sector jobs, resulting in a private-sector job growth rate of 3.6 percent over the year. Governor Scott also announced today that January home prices were higher across the state than one year ago as Florida’s housing market continues to strengthen.

Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce that Florida business created more jobs than any other state across the entire nation during the month of January. As more and more companies choose to invest in our state, we also continue to see improvements in other parts of the economy, such as the housing market. Even though our economy continues to grow, we have to keep making sure more businesses move to and expand in Florida. That’s why we must keep fighting for Florida jobs and investing in proven tools that help our economy like Enterprise Florida and VISIT FLORIDA.”

January marks the 21^st consecutive month that Florida has created more private-sector jobs over-the-year than Texas, with the addition of 260,600 new jobs in the last year. Florida led the nation in job gains in professional and business services, construction and manufacturing over-the-year in January. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in January was $220,000, up 10.1 percent from the previous year’s median price of $199,900. In January, 10,023 new building permits were issued in Florida, accounting for 12 percent of all U.S. building permits.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Cissy Proctor said, “Now is a great time for job seekers to find their dream job in Florida. Our strong, diversified job growth highlights the critical importance of investing in job creation tools to ensure every Florida family can prosper. As we work to attract new companies and jobs to our state, we expect our housing market to continue its strong growth. Eliminating Enterprise Florida and reducing the effectiveness of VISIT FLORIDA would cripple our state’s ability to compete for these good jobs.”

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