ORLANDO, Fla. — Governor Rick Scott announced today that the Orlando area saw an increase of 45,800 new private-sector jobs over the year in May. The Orlando area’s unemployment rate fell to 4.0 percent, dropping by 1.2 percentage points in the last year.

The industries with the largest job gains over the year in the Orlando area were leisure and hospitality with 13,000 new jobs; construction with 9,700 new jobs; trade, transportation, and utilities with 6,700 new jobs; and education and health services with 6,000 new jobs. The Orlando area held fast with the second-highest job demand of all the metro areas with 37,135 job openings, and the second-highest demand for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations with 10,517 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 Central Florida 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.

###