Florida’s Unemployment Rate Drops To Record Low

TALLAHASSEE, FL —Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to a record low of 3.0 percent in December. Additionally, the labor force continued to increase with 220,000 Floridians entering the workforce over the year.

“My administration continues to pursue bold priorities for Florida, and our efforts to diversify the economy are yielding results,” said DeSantis. “I remain laser focused on ensuring Florida is offering a world-class pool of talent to businesses and investing in our students and educators. We continue to prioritize the protection of our natural resources and water quality while also continuously searching for ways to support new and innovative industries which are helping to produce historically low unemployment in our state.”

“Our historic low unemployment is not a coincidence,” said Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Ken Lawson. “Gov. DeSantis understands that diversifying our economy is good for all Floridians, and he has advocated for policies that encourage businesses to invest in our state. I am looking forward to the bright future ahead for Floridians as we continue to make smart, strategic investments that benefit Floridians from Pensacola to Key West and everywhere in between.”

in 2019, Florida businesses created 198,200 private-sector jobs and the state’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.5 percent continues to outpace the national job growth rate of 1.5 percent.

Lawson noted that, already this year, DEO has provided more than $10 million dollars to Florida communities. That funding was bolstered by the governor's announcement two weeks ago that 21 communities impacted by Hurricane Irma will receive more than $84 million through the Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair Program.

"While we are proud of this success, we know what can potentially follow," said Lawson. "It is so important that we maintain the effort to ensure our economy remains resilient to not only natural disasters but any potential economic downturns. At the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, we aim to make our state globally competitive in attracting businesses. Florida’s low taxes, smart regulation and top-rated education system are a few of the tools in our toolbox that helps Florida bring businesses here. At DEO we want to use every resource available to make Florida more attractive to businesses looking to expand.

This legislative session, Lawson is urging the Legislature to expand the Qualified Targeted Industry Tax Refund program, which allows Florida to continue attracting businesses in targeted industries such as aviation and aerospace, financial and professional services and information technology.

"By bringing companies to our state in these industries, we diversify our economy, making us less reliant on tourism, agriculture and real estate which are susceptible to natural disasters and economic downturns," he said.

Since 2014, more than 300 businesses have participated in the Qualified Targeted Industry Tax Refund program, creating nearly 22,000 jobs across the state.

"These are high-quality, high-wage jobs that Florida could have lost to other states providing financial enticements," said Lawson. "Refunds are only provided to businesses after jobs are created, taxes are paid and performance is verified by my team at DEO."

He's encouraging the Legislature to support House Bill 779 and Senate Bill 922 to expand the program.

The 2020 year is beginning with more private-sector jobs coming to Florida, said DeSantis. In January, he announced Made In Space was relocating its corporate headquarters from California to Florida and Spirit Airlines was expanding into a new headquarters in Dania Beach.

Other positive economic indicators include:

• Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over-the-year were:
  • Education and health services with 54,100 new jobs;
  • Leisure and hospitality with 47,900 new jobs;
  • Professional and business services with 35,500 new jobs;
  • Construction with 25,500 new jobs;
  • Trade, transportation and utilities with 17,800 new jobs; and
• Florida job postings showed 284,263 openings in December 2019
• Consumer Sentiment Index was 100.1 in December.

To view the December 2019 jobs report by region, click on the links below:

Fort Lauderdale
Jacksonville
Miami
Orlando
Pensacola
Southwest Florida
Tampa
West Palm Beach