Governor DeSantis Announces Tampa Area Private Sector Employment Up 5.7 Percent, Leading Florida’s Job Gains in Three Major Industries

Tampa, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the Tampa area’s private sector employment increased by 5.7 percent over the year in October 2022 with an increase of 72,200 jobs, leading Florida’s jobs gained in three major private sector industries. The Tampa area led the state’s job gains in education and health services (+11,800 jobs), financial activities (+6,300 jobs), other services (+4,700 jobs), and information (+1,200 jobs). The Tampa are also gained the second-highest number of private sector jobs among all metro areas over the year.

The Tampa area’s labor force grew by 73,254 over the year in October 2022, a 4.6 percent increase. The Tampa area’s unemployment rate was 2.6 percent in October 2022, a decrease of 0.8 percentage point from the year ago rate of 3.4 percent.

The industries gaining the most jobs over the year were trade, transportation, and utilities (+18,500 jobs), leisure and hospitality (+16,900 jobs); and education and health services (+11,800 jobs).

Governor Ron DeSantis also announced that Florida surpassed pre-pandemic employment levels in all nine major private sector industries and created jobs for the 30^th consecutive month in October 2022. Over the month, Florida’s labor force grew 0.3 percent (+36,000) while the national labor force shrank, and Florida’s private sector employment grew by 0.4 percent over the month (+35,000 jobs), doubling the national growth rate of 0.2 percent.

Florida’s statewide unemployment rate was 2.7 percent in October 2022, an increase of 0.2 percentage point over the month but 1.0 percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.7 percent. Florida’s statewide unemployment rate has been lower than the national rate for 23 consecutive months since December 2020.

Data in the month of October continues to indicate there are many job opportunities available for Floridians throughout the state, with more than 476,000 jobs posted online. Floridians in search of work and new job opportunities are encouraged to turn to the CareerSource Florida network for help. Floridians can find guidance on how to register with Employ Florida and search listings of available local job openings. Career seekers also can improve their employability by perfecting resume writing and interviewing skills, establishing career goals, and pursuing customized career training. These services are provided at no cost to job seekers.

To view the statewide October 2022 employment data, visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases. Visit Florida Insight for more information on labor market and economic data.

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