Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the Naples area added 5,500 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 2.7 percent in November, down 0.5 percentage point from one year ago. The Fort Myers area added 8,900 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 2.6 percent in November, down 0.5 percentage point from one year ago.

The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Naples area were leisure and hospitality with 2,500 new jobs and construction with 1,100 new. In November, the Naples area had 5,391 job openings and of those, 880 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 2,400 new jobs, and trade, transportation and utilities with 1,800 new jobs. Construction and leisure and hospitality each had 1,600 new jobs. In November, Fort Myers area had 10,998 job openings and of those, 2,254 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

Statewide, Florida businesses created 10,300 new private-sector jobs in November 2019. Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.6 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.6 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate of 3.1 percent represents a drop of 0.2 percentage point over the year. This is while 200,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.9 percent in the past year.

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

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