TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida businesses have created 16,900 private-sector jobs in June and 172,600 in the past year, for a total of 1,554,800 jobs since December 2010. Florida’s annual job growth rate has outpaced the nation for 74 of the past 75 months. The only month that Florida did not exceed the nation was due to Hurricane Irma. In June, Florida’s unemployment rate remained at a low 3.8 percent, a drop of 7 percentage points since December 2010; this drop is faster than the national decline of 5.3 percentage points.

Governor Scott said, “As Florida’s economy continues to create thousands of jobs every month, we proudly serve as a model for the nation on how to build business and secure continued economic growth and success. Our playbook of cutting taxes and eliminating thousands of burdensome regulations has created real momentum in Florida, allowing us to make historic Investments in things families care about – like education, safe neighborhoods and our environment. As our economy keeps booming and bringing thousands of families to Florida, the entire country is taking note.”

Florida’s annual job growth rate of 2.3 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.9 percent. In the past year, 130,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.3 percent, which is greater than the national labor force growth rate of 1.2 percent.

Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “The addition of nearly 17,000 new jobs and Florida’s continuous low unemployment rate is a testament to the strength of our economy. Private sector businesses have confidence in Governor Scott’s leadership and the business-friendly environment he has built. They are investing in our state and creating new jobs for hardworking Floridians every month.”

Other positive economic indicators include:

• Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over-the-year were:
• Leisure and hospitality with 41,700 new jobs;
• Construction with 33,100 new jobs;
• Professional and business services with 22,800 new jobs;
• Education and health services with 19,100 new jobs; and
• Trade, Transportation, and Utilities with 19,000 new jobs.
• Florida job postings showed 232,360 openings in June 2018.
• Consumer Sentiment is 98.3, up from 67.0 in 2010.

 To view the June 2018 employment data visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

###