Florida Creates Jobs for 30th Consecutive Month, Grows in October Despite Hurricane Ian

TALLAHASSSEE (FLV) – Florida’s October economy report found the state has added jobs for the 30th consecutive month and showed “economic resiliency” in light of impacts from Hurricane Ian, which rammed the state late September.

The labor force grew by 36,000 in October, the private sector added 35,000 jobs, unemployment ticked up to 2.7% (+.2%) but remains 1% below the national rate of 3.7%, and over the year, 447,800 jobs have been added. The rate of job growth over the year was 5.6%, faster than the national average rate of 4%.

The governor’s office noted October marked the the 19th consecutive month Florida has exceeded the nation in private sector job growth.

“Florida’s economic resiliency is unmatched in the country – no other state could withstand the direct impact of a Category 4 hurricane and continue to grow jobs in the same month,” DeSantis said. “We have made record investments in our infrastructure and workforce while building a record budget surplus and providing record tax reduction for Floridians.”

On the slight uptick of .2% in unemployment, the governor’s office noted much of the increase is a result of unemployment in Southwest Florida, which took on the brunt of near-category 5 Hurricane Ian in late September. Fort Myers saw around a 3.9% unemployment rate, up .5%.

“More Floridians enter the workforce each month because they are confident in the opportunities available to them under Governor DeSantis’ consistent leadership,” said DEO Secretary Dane Eagle. “DEO is proud to support the Governor’s mission through workforce education and development opportunities that help Floridians realize their potential and support our state’s major industries.”

They pointed to the plethora of job opportunities across the state. More than 476,000 jobs have been posted online.

Additional economic indicators include:

• Unemployment rate is 2.7 percent, 0.2 percentage point higher than the previous month’s rate but 1.0 percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.7 percent.
• Florida’s statewide unemployment rate has been lower than the national rate for 23 consecutive months since December 2020.
• Between October 2021 and October 2022, Florida’s labor force grew by 334,000, or 3.2 percent. This was faster than the national labor force growth rate of 1.9 percent over the year.
• Between October 2021 and October 2022, total private sector employment grew by 447,800 jobs (+5.6 percent), faster than the national private sector job growth rate of 4.0 percent over the year.
• As of October 2022, Florida employers have added jobs for 30 consecutive months since May 2020. Florida’s private sector over-the-year job growth rate has exceeded the nation’s for 19 consecutive months since April 2021. 
• Private sector industries gaining the most jobs over the month were:
• Leisure and Hospitality with 14,100 new jobs.
• Education and Health Services with 8,200 new jobs.
• Trade, Transportation, and Utilities with 8,200 new jobs.