June Unemployment Picture Bleak In South Florida, Statewide
MIAMI (CBSMiami) South Florida got some disappointing jobs news Friday with the release of the statewide unemployment report, with Broward seeing an increase in the jobless rate while Miami-Dade was virtually stalled. Statewide, the unemployment rate was unchanged for the second month in a row.
The percentage of jobless in Florida stands at 8.6 percent. The Department of Economic Opportunity said Friday the seasonally adjusted rate for June remained unchanged from the May figure and that nearly 800,000 Floridians remain jobless.
Miami-Dade's unemployment rate dropped slightly from 9.6 percent in May to 9.5 percent in June, seasonally adjusted. Job creation declined significantly, with little improvement in construction, an important indicator in South Florida.
Broward saw it's second straight month of job losses after enjoying almost 5 years of growth. Broward's rate, which unlike Dade's is not seasonally adjusted, jumped 3 tenths of a point to 7.6 percent. However, that could be blamed on a traditional summer slowdown in hiring in South Florida.
Governor Rick Scott has made creating jobs the centerpiece of his administration. campaigning on a pledge to create 700,000 new jobs in seven years. Although the rate has dropped since Scott became governor, state economists say Florida's unemployment rate has improved largely because people have left the work force, not because they are finding jobs.
Scott argued the state's dropping unemployment rate is because of changes he has been pushing such as removing regulations he believes deter creating jobs.
