DeSantis: ‘Florida Is Leading The Nation In New Business Formations’

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida leads the nation in new business formations with 1,534,221 new businesses, exceeding California by more than 250,000 new business formations since January 2020.

“Florida has the lowest unemployment rate among the 10 most populous states and the highest number of new business formations because we have encouraged workforce development, kept the economy open, and put Florida families first,” DeSantis said.

Florida’s unemployment rate remained at 2.7 percent, the lowest unemployment rate among the nation’s ten largest states and a full percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.7 percent in August 2022, according to the governor’s office.

Over the year, total private sector employment grew by 5.6 percent (439,300 jobs) which is 1.0 percentage point faster than the national rate of 4.6 percent.

“Our economy is steady and resilient — proof that Governor DeSantis’ freedom first policies are working, despite the nation’s economic uncertainty,” said Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Secretary Dane Eagle. 

During the pandemic, DeSantis very briefly halted various parts of the Florida economy early in the pandemic, but after just a few weeks, the Florida economy was broadly open and DeSantis regretted opposing lockdown rhetoric. He received strong criticism from left-wing leaders and pundits for opposing vaccine and mask mandates.

Floridians in search of work and new job opportunities are encouraged to turn to the CareerSource Florida network for help.