Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — Governor Rick Scott announced today that Fort Lauderdale saw an increase of 29,500 new private-sector jobs over the year in May. The unemployment rate in Fort Lauderdale fell to 4.1 percent in May, declining by 1.1 percentage points in the last year.

The industries with the largest job gains over the year in the Fort Lauderdale area were trade, transportation, and utilities with 8,700 new jobs and leisure and hospitality with 6,500 new jobs. Fort Lauderdale job demand was fourth in the state with 24,205 openings, including 6,530 high-wage, high-skill STEM job openings.

Florida businesses created 239,000 private-sector jobs over the year in May, exceeding the nation’s private-sector job growth rate for more than four years. Florida’s statewide unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent in May, while 33,589 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Broward and the state’s other 24 regional workforce boards. 

To view the May 2016 employment data visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

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