Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the Naples area added 5,400 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in January, down 0.2 percentage point in the past year. The Fort Myers area added 7,700 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in January, down 0.1 percentage point in the past year. Statewide, Florida businesses created 10,900 new private-sector jobs in January 2019. To see the statewide job creation information, click here.

The industry with the highest growth over the year in the Naples area was construction with 2,300 new jobs. In January, Naples had 4,484 job openings and of those, 769 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

The industry with the highest growth over the year in the Fort Myers area was construction with 3,700 new jobs. In January, Fort Myers had 9,235 job openings and of those, 1,585 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.7 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 2.1 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate of 3.4 percent represents a drop of 0.5 percentage point over the year. This is while 161,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.6 percent in the past year.

To view the January 2019 employment data, visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

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