Governor Rick Scott announced today that the Jacksonville area added 22,800 new private-sector jobs in 2016. The area’s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in December, dropping by 0.1 percentage point in the last year. Florida businesses created 237,300 private-sector jobs across the state during 2016, bringing the total number of jobs created since December 2010 to 1,262,100 jobs.
Governor Scott said, “The decline in the Jacksonville area’s unemployment rate, coupled with the creation of 22,800 new jobs last year, means more families are able to find a job and ultimately achieve their dreams in Northeast Florida. This great news shows that our commitment to helping job creators grow is working to create new opportunities all across the state.”
The industries with the most job growth in the Jacksonville area over the year were leisure and hospitality with 6,800 new jobs and financial activities, education and health services, each with 3,500 new jobs. In December, the Jacksonville area remained among the top five metro areas in job demand, with 17,415 openings, including 5,099 job openings in high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.
Florida’s statewide unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in December and for the 57
th consecutive month, Florida’s annual job growth rate of 3.3 percent is exceeding the nation’s rate of 1.6 percent. More than 30,084 Floridians, including 1,444 veterans, were placed in jobs by CareerSource Northeast Florida and the state’s other 23 regional workforce boards.
To view the December 2016 employment data visit
www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.