Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the Naples area added 4,400 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 2.9 percent in October, down 0.4 percentage point from one year ago. The Fort Myers area added 11,500 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 2.8 percent in October, down 0.4 percentage point from one year ago.

The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Naples area were leisure and hospitality with 1,700 new jobs and construction with 1,200 new. In October, the Naples area had 5,062 job openings and of those, 868 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Fort Myers area were leisure and hospitality with 2,700 new jobs, professional and business services with 2,300 new jobs and trade, transportation and utilities with 2,200 new jobs. In October, Fort Myers area had 10,193 job openings and of those, 1,912 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

Statewide, Florida businesses created 22,800 new private-sector jobs in October 2019. Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.8 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.5 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate of 3.2 percent represents a drop of 0.1 percentage point over the year. This is while 179,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.7 percent in the past year.

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

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