Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the Naples area added 4,200 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.1 percent in February, down 0.3 percentage point in the past year. The Fort Myers area added 9,400 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in February, down 0.2 percentage point in the past year.

Statewide, Florida businesses created 24,300 new private-sector jobs in February 2019. To see the statewide job creation information, click here.

The industry with the highest growth over the year in the Naples area was construction with 2,100 new jobs. In February, Naples had 4,940 job openings and of those, 853 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Fort Myers area were construction with 2,800 new jobs and leisure and hospitality with 2,500 new jobs. In February, Fort Myers had 10,273 job openings and of those, 1,731 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.7 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.9 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate of 3.5 percent represents a drop of 0.4 percentage point over the year. This is while 170,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.7 percent in the past year.

To view the February 2019 employment data, visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

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