~Nearly 1.6 million jobs created since Dec. 2010~

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 percent – the lowest since April 2007 as Florida business have now created 1,595,000 jobs since December 2010. In July, business created 26,300 private-sector jobs. The Governor announced Florida’s employment numbers at Solar Stik, a company that manufactures portable power generators that operate off of solar energy.

Governor Scott said, “As Florida’s economy continues to grow and unemployment has reached its lowest point in more than a decade, even more Floridians are finding great jobs in the Sunshine State. I am proud that our pro-growth strategies are paying off with nearly 1.6 million jobs created since I took office. Our soaring economy has allowed us to make investments in areas that matter to families, like education, transportation and protecting our environment. That’s why Florida outpaces the nation in job growth and is the best state to find a job and raise a family.”

Over the past year, 211,400 new private-sector jobs were created in Florida. Florida’s annual job growth rate has outpaced the nation for 75 of the past 76 months. The only month that Florida did not exceed the nation was due to Hurricane Irma. In July, Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to a low 3.7 percent; a drop of 7.1 percentage points since December 2010. This drop is faster than the national decline of 5.4 percentage points.

Florida’s annual job growth rate of 2.8 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.9 percent. In the past year, 132,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.3 percent, which is greater than the national labor force growth rate of 1.1 percent.

Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “Florida’s economy is thriving under Governor Scott’s leadership with phenomenal private sector job growth as our labor force continues to expand. Florida has added more than 57,000 new jobs just in the past two months, showing businesses are investing in our economy. Consumer sentiment also remains high, indicating that residents are confident and finding jobs with the nearly 1.6 million new jobs added since December 2010.”

Other positive economic indicators include:

• Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over-the-year were:
• Leisure and hospitality with 50,400 new jobs;
• Construction with 38,200 new jobs;
• Education and health services with 33,700 new jobs;
• Professional and business services with 28,500 new jobs; and
• Trade, Transportation, and Utilities with 21,700 new jobs.
• Florida job postings showed 238,924 openings in July 2018.
• Consumer Sentiment is 99.8, up from 70.2 in 2010.

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

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