Friday, June 26, 2009

Unemployment Climbs In Florida

Highest Since 1975

LABELLE, FL. -- Florida's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2009 was 10.2%. This represents 943,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,232,000.

The unemployment rate is 0.5 percentage point higher than the revised April rate of 9.7% and is up 4.4 percentage points from the May 2008 rate. The state's current unemployment rate is 0.8 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.4%.

The last time the unemployment rate was higher than May 2009 was October 1975 when it was 11.0%.

Florida's total nonagricultural employment in May 2009 is 7,389,100, representing a job loss of 417,500, or -5.3% compared to May 2008. This is steeper than the national rate of decline for May which is -3.9% over the year.

The May 2009 job loss continues the trend of annual declines that began in August 2007. The downturn started with declines in construction jobs, but has now spread to most all other major industries.

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