Florida is leading the nation in job growth, adding more than 37,000 jobs this month. The Tampa Bay area has added over 25,000 jobs in the last 12 months, third among metro areas in Florida, according to state officials..
A rise in jobs means a dip in the unemployment rate, the statewide unemployment rate for 2014 is 6.2 percent, down from 7.4 percent in June 2013. Jesse Panuccio, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, says the job picture is trending upward.
“The state is continuing a now multiyear trend of reversing the declines that we had during the recession, so you are seeing a recovering economy in Florida,” Panuccio said. “I think we continue to stack up well against the nation and the 10 largest states.”
The national unemployment rate is currently at 6.1 percent, making this the first time in a year that the Florida rate has been higher than than the national rate.
