NAPLES, Fla. — Governor Rick Scott announced today that the Southwest Florida area added 5,800 new private-sector jobs in the last year. Naples area businesses added 4,300 new jobs and the area’s unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, down 0.8 percentage point in the past year. Fort Myers area businesses created 1,500 new jobs and the area’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent, also down 0.8 percentage point in the past year. Statewide, Florida businesses created 22,100 new jobs in August and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.0 percent, the lowest rate since June 2007. Since December 2010, Florida businesses have created 1,441,000 new private-sector jobs.

The industry with the highest job growth in Naples over the year was construction with 1,400 new jobs. The area’s professional and business services and education and health services industries also grew substantially, each adding 900 new jobs. In August, the Naples area had 3,072 job openings, including 620 for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.

The industry with the largest job gains in Fort Myers over the year was education and health services with 1,100 new jobs. In August, the Fort Myers area had 6,790 job openings, including 1,342 high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.

Florida’s annual job growth rate of 2.9 percent exceeds the nation’s rate of 1.7 percent, continuing the 65-month trend of our state’s rate being higher than the nation’s. In August, 23,936 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Southwest Florida and the state’s other 23 local workforce boards. 

To view the August 2017 employment data visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

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