Florida adds jobs, unemployment down in Palm Beach

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Unemployment continues to fall slowly statewide and in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

The latest numbers, released Friday by Florida’s Agency for Workforce Innovation, showed the statewide jobless rate dropping to 11.7 in May from 12.0 in April. The number of unemployed dropped to 1.086 million from 1.115 million as the state added 20,300 jobs, mostly census related, during the month.

“A growing number of positive indicators, including an increase in job opportunities and a decline in the unemployment rate, provide continued evidence that the state’s economy is recovering,” Agency for Workforce Innovation Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo said in a statement.

The Palm Beach County rate dropped to 11.3 percent from 11.5 percent in April. A year ago, the rate sat at 10.2 percent. The number of unemployed dropped to 69,577 from 70,882 in April.

In Broward, the rate dropped to 9.8 percent from 10.0 percent in April. A year ago Broward’s rate was 8.9 percent.

Unemployment in Miami-Dade rose sharply, however, to 12.3 percent in May from 11.4 percent a month earlier. A year ago the rate was 10.7 percent.

State numbers are adjusted for seasonal factors; county numbers are not.

Two sectors added jobs over the 12 months through May: government, up 38,800, or 3.5 percent; and private education and health services, up 31,000, or 2.9 percent.

Sectors losing jobs include: construction, down 39,100 jobs, or 9.8 percent; financial services, down 22,700 jobs, or 4.7 percent; leisure and hospitality, down 21,400 jobs, or 2.3 percent.