In Florida, Service Workers Come From Elsewhere
ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) — Newly released data shows how much of Florida's workers are from out-of-state as well as where they came from before moving to Florida in 2012.
Out-of-state soldiers at Florida military bases tend to come from California, Virginia and Texas, while Central America is one of the top sources of new construction workers in Florida, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's data.
Not surprisingly, New York and Georgia were the top sources of new workers in Florida, according to an Associated Press analysis of the county-level data. They also have been the top states from which all new residents are coming to Florida in recent years.
Those two states, along with Asia, were the top sources of new workers in the fields of management, business, science and the arts.
Florida's service workers were drawn from New York and Georgia, as well as the Caribbean.
Workers in sales and office occupations tended to come from New York, Georgia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The top sources of transportation workers and workers involved in production were New York, Georgia and the Caribbean.
Out-of-state workers in the Midwest and New York usually begin contacting Karen Rehn's Sarasota-based staffing company around this time of year as they contemplate facing another winter, she said.
After last year's brutally cold winter, out-of-state prospective job seekers "came out of the woodwork," said Rehn, who owns HH Staffing, which provides workers in office jobs, light industry and property management.
"Those people don't want to go through another winter," she said.
Orange County, home to mega-theme park resorts, drew the most service workers from outside Florida of any county in the state, according to the Census data. The central Florida county was followed by three South Florida counties in attracting service workers: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Escambia County, home of Naval Air Station Pensacola, drew the most soldiers of any county in Florida. It was followed by Duval County, home to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, and Okaloosa County, home to Eglin Air Force Base.
The three South Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach attracted the most construction workers, followed by Orange and Hillsborough counties.
Sales and office workers were drawn to Miami-Dade, Broward and Orange counties.
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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