More than 7,000 Job Openings Added in the Last Year

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that job demand in Florida increased by 2.8 percent over-the-year in December by adding 7,342 job openings. Florida’s job demand outpaced the nation’s demand, which increased by only 0.3 percent over-the-year in December. There were a total of 265,244 job openings across Florida in December, according to Help Wanted OnLine. In December, Florida also had the fourth-highest over-the-year increase in job openings out of the 10 most populous states.

Governor Rick Scott said, “I am proud to announce that Florida job demand outpaced the nation last year, further proving that Florida remains an ideal location to find a good job and raise a family. Florida businesses are hiring here because we have worked every day for the past seven years to cut taxes and reduce regulations to make it easier for job creators to invest in creating new opportunities. Last year was a great year for families to find the jobs needed to succeed and we look forward to another year of economic growth across our state.”

In December, more than 68,000 advertised positions were in STEM-related fields. The top occupation in demand continued to be registered nurses, with nearly 14,000 openings across the state. The job demand over-the-year growth rate was highest in the following cities: Hollywood, Tallahassee, Gainesville and Melbourne. Hollywood had the highest percentage gain in online job demand over-the-year, with job ads climbing 29.2 percent since December 2016. Over the last year, Florida businesses also created more jobs than any other state in the trade, transportation and utilities industry, with 33,600 new jobs.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Cissy Proctor said, “Our state’s job demand over-the-year is growing more than nine times faster than the nation’s. This rapid pace is due to the vast amount of small, medium and large businesses that want to hire hardworking, qualified Floridians. Our goal is to match jobseekers with these openings and ensure that every Floridian who is looking for an opportunity is able to find one.”

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