Fla. Unemployment Stagnates For 3rd Straight Month
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) - A day after national unemployment claims declined, the state of Florida reported a stagnating job market.
According to state numbers, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in July after being at the same rate for the last two months.
The unemployment rate which had been steadily decreasing has stalled perhaps signalling a faltering job atmosphere in the state.
Gov. Rick Scott has used the state's unemployment rate as part of his re-election pitch for next year. The rate in May and June was the lowest since the jobless rate was 7 percent in September 2008.
State economists, however, released an analysis this summer showing a reason for the unemployment decline has been people leaving the labor force or delaying their search for a job.
In addition, the state hasn't delineated how many of the jobs are full-time, full-benefit jobs and how many are part-time or no benefit jobs.
Locally, Broward County saw its unemployment rate edge upward from 6.1 percent to 6.2 percent. Overall, there were 63,657 workers on unemployment insurance in Broward County during July.
Miami-Dade County's unemployment dropped significantly from 9 percent in June to 8.4 percent in July.
However, the unemployment rate drop masked other problems in the county.
The state's numbers showed that the number of Miami-Dade County residents on unemployment insurance declined by 7,840 from June to July.
However, the county only added 3,987 employees to the workforce. Another 3,853 dropped out of the labor force, which also helped the unemployment number drop.
Even Monroe County, which paces the state in unemployment saw it's unemployment rate rise by 0.1 percent to 4.2 percent in July.
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