TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 percent, the lowest since February 2007, and a decrease of 7.3 percentage points since December 2010; this drop is faster than the national decline of 5.6 percentage points. Florida businesses have created 1,637,100 jobs since December 2010 and 17,700 private-sector jobs in September. Florida’s annual job growth rate has outpaced the nation for 77 of the past 78 months. The only month that Florida did not exceed the nation was due to Hurricane Irma. In the past year, 108,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.1 percent.

Gov. Scott said, “Today, Florida’s unemployment rate has reached its lowest point since February 2007 – this is great news for Florida families. While our state responds and recovers from the devastation of Hurricane Michael, I know that we will rebuild stronger than before. I will never stop working until every family in the Panhandle has recovered from this storm, and I will keep fighting to make sure that every Floridian has the opportunity to get a great job.”

Other positive economic indicators include:

• Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over-the-year were:
• Leisure and Hospitality
• Construction
• Professional and Business Services
• Education and Health Services
• Trade, Transportation and Utilities
• Florida job postings showed 245,295 openings in September 2018.
• Consumer Sentiment Index is 98.5, up from 70.2 in December 2010.

Disaster Unemployment Assistance is available to Florida business and residents whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted as a result of Hurricane Michael. To learn more or file a claim visit www.FloridaJobs.org or call 1-800-385-3920.

To view the September 2018 employment data visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

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