TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced the Fort Myers area added 4,300 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.1 percent in January, down 0.7 percentage point from one year ago. The Naples area added 700 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.0 percent in January, down 0.5 percentage point from one year ago.

The industry with the highest growth over the year in the Fort Myers area was professional and business services with 2,100 new jobs. The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Naples area were construction with 800 new jobs and professional and business services with 700 new jobs.

Statewide, Florida businesses created 31,500 new private-sector jobs in January 2020. Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.1 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.5 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate of 2.8 percent represents a drop of 0.6 percentage point over the year. This is while 179,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.7 percent in the past year.

To view the January 2020 employment data, visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

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