Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the Naples area added 5,100 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.2 percent in September, down 0.3 percentage point from one year ago. The Fort Myers area added 11,000 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 2.9 percent in September, down 0.3 percentage point from one year ago.
The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Naples area were leisure and hospitality with 1,600 new jobs, construction with 1,100 new jobs and trade, transportation and utilities with 1,000 new jobs. In September, the Naples area had 4,560 job openings and of those, 790 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.
The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Fort Myers area were education and health services with 2,500 new jobs, professional and business services with 2,300 new jobs, construction with 2,200 new jobs and trade, transportation and utilities with 2,000 new jobs. In September, Fort Myers area had 9,912 job openings and of those, 1,881 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.
Statewide, Florida businesses created 8,700 new private-sector jobs in September 2019. Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.8 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.6 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate of 3.2 percent represents a drop of 0.1 percentage point over the year. This is while 154,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.5 percent in the past year.
To view the September 2019 employment data, visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.
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