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Joblessness drops in Palm Beach County, rises in Florida

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — South Florida unemployment dropped slightly in September but edged up slightly statewide, according to the latest report from the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

In Palm Beach County, the jobless rate dropped to 12.4 percent, or 77,379 residents out of work, from 12.6 percent in August, most likely because of seasonal factors. A year ago, the jobless rate sat at 12.0 percent.

In Broward County, the rate dropped to 10.5 percent, or 104,720 actual out of work, from 10.8 percent in August. A year ago, the jobless rate sat at 10.1 percent.

For all of Florida, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 11.9 percent in September from 11.8 percent a month earlier.  That number translates to 1.1 million Floridians out of work. A year ago, the rate sat at 11.2 percent.

By comparison, the national unemployment rate for September was 9.6 percent, same as August.

In a nutshell, the reason for the high unemployment is a lack of money flowing through the economy.

“We still have tight credit conditions, although that’s improved slightly,” said Rebecca Rust, chief economist for the agency. “We still have consumers holding back on spending. Businesses are holding down costs by not hiring.”

Also contributing to the dismal picture: a mismatch of skills between what jobs are available — mostly health care — and those out of work; workers who can't move to different part of the state or country because they can't sell their homes; declining stimulus spending.

One bright spot: seasonal hiring is expected to increase this year. Rust said employers statewide typically add 50,000 workers for the holiday shopping season, but that number has declined to 30,000 to 40,000 since the recession hit. This year, the number of hires is expected to be 40,000 or more.

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OCTOBER 22, 2010 click to go home
 
         
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