Hendry County - Highest Unemployment Again

Slowness In Agriculture And Construction To Blame

LABELLE, FL. -- Hendry County, at 11.9 percent, has the highest unemployment rate in Florida in November, followed by Flagler County (11.1 percent); St. Lucie County (10.4 percent); Hernando County (10.2 percent); and Hamilton and Okeechobee counties (10.0 percent each). Hendry County�s high jobless rate is due mainly to seasonal slowness in agriculture and related industries with the other areas being impacted by construction and manufacturing declines.

In November 2008, Alachua and Liberty counties have the state�s lowest unemployment rates (4.9 percent), followed by Walton County (5.0 percent); Sumter County (5.1 percent); Leon County (5.2 percent); and Franklin County (5.3 percent).

Florida�s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November 2008 is 7.3 percent. This represents 680,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,311,000. The unemployment rate is 0.3 percentage point higher than the October rate of 7.0 percent and is up 2.9 percentage points from the November 2007 rate. Florida�s November 2008 unemployment rate is the highest since June 1993, which was also 7.3 percent. The state�s current unemployment rate is 0.6 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate of 6.7 percent.