ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s unemployment rate had a slight uptick to 3.5 percent in January, while Gov. Ron DeSantis touted growth in the labor force.
The state Department of Commerce on Monday released a report that said the January rate was up from 3.4 percent in December. It also was up from 3.2 percent in January 2024.
The number of people qualified as unemployed increased from 385,000 in December to 390,000 in January. It was up from 353,000 in January 2024.
Meanwhile, the labor force of 11.188 million in January increased by 18,000 from December and 66,000 from January 2024.
DeSantis’ office issued a release that said the expanded workforce reinforced “the state’s economic strength.” It said the “state’s labor force grew or remained stable in 10 of the past 12 months, underscoring Florida’s sustained economic momentum.”
“Florida continues to prove that leadership and conservative fiscal policies drive success,” DeSantis said in a prepared statement. “We will keep the momentum going by insisting on reducing government spending, continuing to eliminate bureaucracy, and finding more tax reductions for Floridians.”
The national unemployment rate in February was 4.1 percent, up from 4 percent in January. Florida will release a February rate next week.
The Florida unemployment report Monday came three days after a panel of economists known as the Revenue Estimating Conference released updated projections of state general revenue. While the projections were higher than had been anticipated in an August forecast, the panel cautioned about “weaker” state and national economic variables and said the “forecasting environment is considerably less stable over the short run than it was in the summer. Further economic uncertainty exists from this point forward.”
Monday’s report showed employment increases in categories such as education and health services and leisure and hospitality. Construction saw a decrease of 5,100 positions.
Across Florida, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area had the lowest unemployment rate in January at 3.0 percent, The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin regions were next-lowest at 3.6 percent, while the Tallahassee area was at 3.7 percent
The Naples-Marco Island, Jacksonville and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater areas were at 3.8 percent. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers, North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Palm Bay-Titusville-Melbourne, Panama City- Panama City Beach and Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent areas each had 4 percent rates.
Meanwhile, The Villages area had the highest rate at 6.9 percent, followed by the Homosassa Springs area at 5.8 percent and the Sebring area at 5.6 percent.
The statewide rate is seasonally adjusted, while the metro rates are not adjusted.
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