Palm Beach, Broward jobless rates fall sharply

By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Stop the presses! The jobless rates for Florida and most counties, including Palm Beach and Broward, actually fell substantially in April.

In Palm Beach, the rate fell to 11.4 percent from a revised 12.2 percent in March, according to Florida’s Agency for Workforce Innovation, which issued the April report Friday. The number of people out of work dropped to 70,563 from 75,110 a month earlier.

By comparison, a year ago the rate sat at 9.5 percent.

The Broward rate fell to 9.9 percent from 10.6  percent in March; the number out of work fell 97,194 from 104,297 a month earlier.

Statewide, the rate fell to 12.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, from 12.3 percent a month earlier. The number out of work: 1.113 million, down from 1,139 million in March. County numbers are not adjust for seasonal factors.

By comparison, the national economy added 290,000 jobs in April, with the unemployment rate jumping to 9.9 percent, as many jobless who had sat on the sidelines because of poor prospects jumped back into market.

Florida actually added jobs — about 15,000 — about half of which are with the census, according to Rebecca Rust, chief economist for AWI.

Two sectors added jobs: health care and private education, which gained 35,900 positions during the 12 months through April; and government, which added 2,100.

Throughout most of the recession, health and education was the only sector adding jobs.

Among the sectors losing jobs: Construction, down 45,300, or 11.1 percent; leisure and hospitality, down 25,400, or 2.8 percent; financial services, down 23,600, or 4.8 percent; and manufacturing, down 18,600, or 5.6 percent.

Rust said the statistics were not affected by the gulf oil spill, since data was collected before it happened. The agency will be monitoring certain sectors, including fishing and leisure hospitality, to gauge the effect for the May report.