ORLANDO, Fla. — Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that April 2018 marked 37 consecutive months of the Orlando area having the highest job creation in the state, adding 38,800 new private-sector jobs in the last year. The unemployment rate in Orlando was a low 3.1 percent, down 0.5 percentage point from one year ago. Statewide, Florida businesses created 8,300 new jobs in April bringing the total number of new private-sector jobs created in Florida to more than 1.5 million since December 2010.

Orlando led the state in job growth over the year in the following industries:

• Leisure and hospitality with 10,900 new jobs;
• Professional and business services with 7,700 new jobs; and
• Construction with 6,000 new jobs. 

In April, the Orlando area was once again second among state metro areas in job demand with 38,352 job openings. Orlando also remained the second-highest metro area in demand for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations with 11,224 openings.

As of April, Florida’s unemployment rate remains low at 3.9 percent, a drop of 6.9 percentage points since December 2010; this drop is faster than the national decline of 5.4 percentage points. In the last year, 125,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.2 percent, which is greater than the national labor force growth rate of only 0.8 percent.

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

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