Flagler County’s unemployment rate fell back to 4.1 percent, from 6.6 percent the previous month, according to figures released by the state Department of Commerce this morning. The rates are not seasonally adjusted. But the county’s housing inventory continues to rise, and is now at its highest level in 13 years, and rising.
Since the department revised figures upward by several thousands a few months ago, Flagler County now has a labor force of 55,579, almost unchanged from a year ago, with 53,300 holding jobs either in the county, in surrounding counties or through remote work. Some 2,275 Flagler County residents qualified for unemployment.
The unemployment figure only reflects the number of people collecting unemployment. The state offers unemployment checks of up to $275 a week for only 12 weeks. Once the 12-week period runs out, an individual may still be jobless, but is no longer counted among the unemployed. So the official figure is somewhat deceptive.
The federal government’s alternative measure of labor utilization calculates those discouraged workers, as well as those who are under-employed–those who are working part time because they could not find full-time work, or because their hours have been cut back. The alternative unemployment and underemployment rate for Florida is 6.6 percent. For the nation, it’s 7.5 percent.
Home sales in Flagler County-Palm Coast were not quite brisk in February, with just 202 single family house sales closing, for a total of 2,851 sales over the past 12 months, an average of 238 a month. The median price rose slightly to $370,000, compared to $355,000 a year ago.
The median time to sale was 115 days, a bit less than the 122 days of a year ago, according to figures released by the Flagler County Association of Realtors. In sum, the market appears steady, though pending sales (228 in February) are in the slightly lower side, and the county’s inventory of houses available continues to rise to post-bubble highs. It is now approaching 1,500, the highest level since March 2012, when it was falling rapidly in the aftermath of the housing crash. The amount equates to a six-month supply.
The state had a 3.6 percent unemployment rate in March, the same as in February. Florida had an estimated 403,000 people who qualified as out of work in March, 5,000 more than a month earlier. Meanwhile, the labor force of about 11.2 million grew by 1,000 in the same time.
The state jobless rate was 3.2 percent in March 2024. Meanwhile, the national rate last month was 4.2 percent, up from 4.1 percent in February and 3.9 percent in March 2024.
Jimmy Heckman, the Department of Commerce’s chief of workforce statistics and economic research, on Friday pointed to the availability of jobs for helping keep the state’s rate below the national mark.
“There are 506,000 job openings. That’s about 1.25 job openings per unemployed job seeker in the state,” Heckman said. “So, there’s plenty of demand for workers.”
Heckman also said there has not been a “noticeable” impact on Florida’s employment figures from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts, which have cut federal jobs and spending.
The state report lists broad categories of employment sectors and sub-categories. Employment in the broad category of leisure and hospitality dipped by 900 jobs in March, while a sub-category of accommodation and food services dropped 2,100 jobs after also shedding 5,600 positions in February, according to Department of Commerce figures.
Employment in the broad category of construction decreased by 1,400 jobs in March. Most other sectors showed upticks during the month. The broad category of education and health services increased by 5,600 jobs, including a sub-category of health care and social assistance gaining 4,800 positions. The manufacturing category increased by 1,900.
Education and health jobs paced the state from March 2024 to last month, increasing by 42,000 positions, followed by jobs in the broad category of trade, transportation and utilities, up 24,600.
Local, state and federal government jobs increased by 21,400 over the year, while construction increased by 11,400 positions.
Across Florida, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area had the lowest unemployment rate last month at 3.1 percent. The Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin region was at 3.3 percent, followed by the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area at 3.4 percent.
The Naples-Marco Island, Panama City-Panama City Beach and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater regions were each at 3.5 percent. The Jacksonville area was at 3.6 percent. The Tallahassee, Cape-Coral-Fort Myers, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent and North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota areas were at 3.7 percent. The Port St. Lucie area was at 3.9 percent.
The Villages and Wildwood area had the state’s highest rate at 5.8 percent, followed by the Homosassa Springs area at 5.1 percent and the Sebring area at 4.9 percent. The statewide rate is seasonally adjusted, while the metro rates are not adjusted.
–FlaglerLive and News Service of Florida
David S. says
Stick built homes I hope they have a termite bond and they will get destroyed when we have a bad hurricane what a waste of money….
Lani says
My house has been for sale for 3 months. Itsa 3 year old house with a pool under market price and we still can’t even get people in the door to look. Even offering concessions. No one is moving here apparently:(
JimboXYZ says
Just another best effort for a count pretty much, any asterisks we need to know about ? Anyone believe it’s accurate without anyone falling thru the cracks ? At best it’s a ballpark figure that’s always been suspect for decades.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Looks to me there are a lot of unhappy people in P/C! The lady that lives next door to me called me to ask if my water went up. She told me her bill was $150 dollars. She lives alone….I told her mine was $ 160, for my wife my dog,cat & bird. Boy are we screwed! We,re all stuck in this quagmeyer called P/C! We are now at the mercy, of fools & idiots. We cant leave, no one wants to live here anymore,no one will buy our homes we,re all gonna lose our shirts, socks & underware! No body even comes to look, new homes old homes….Its like we have the plaque, created by the City Hall, no one wanted!
Ray says
I have noticed also that there lots of homes for sale in the F section and have been for months. I think there is a very serious problem in Palm Coast! This build, build attitude has ruined this town. Thanks to the Moron Politicians and the people in charge. I hope they all go crawl in a hole and be gone! But it appears it is way too late to save this town from Disaster.
The water, roads, sewer, and on and on. It was a nice town when I bought in 2002 not anymore sorry to say!
James t says
Glad i was able to sell about a year ago. We lost money , but was tired of the the traffic and overpopulation/ overbuilding. Found a nice small peaceful town in Georgia for retirement. Palm coast is no place to retire.
The dude says
Ah Dennis… elections do have consequences. And all you gripe about is a direct consequence of your voting habits of the last couple decades.
Enjoy!
FLF says
Yet, the developers continue to build by the hundreds maybe thousands of new homes. One new home on my street was on the market 484 days and sold for $30,000 under the original asking price. Yet they continue to build…. Makes absolutely no sense.
Stop The Insanity says
Not only here, but throughout Florida, the builders, developers, elected officials are ignoring the obvious. The housing market has slowed substantially,
yet they continue to build and destroy our precious wetlands and trees. All in the name of greed$$$. Now we have a housing glut!! Many saw this coming, they showed up to meetings, but their voices were ignored. We haven’t had a substantial amount of rain in months. The surrounding lakes and canals are well below their normal levels. But hey, let’s keep on adding more homes to the already bloated housing market.
Concerned citizen says
And yet they just keep building.
Land of no turn signals says says
Excess housing inventory? Really? Trees falling by the second to build houses on teeny tiny lots by the thousands.
Jay Tomm says
I have a stick house bought new in early 2020. Before all the boom. I have no problems with that type of house. This area isn’t prone to serious hurricanes. So far the few skirts we had have been no issue. If I was in Miami, I’d agree, but not Flagler. And if we got something that would be that bad, I would expect most homes to be damaged. Your block house isn’t going to matter when the trees fall on your wood roof.
They keep building, someone must be buying them. Though I have seen a slowdown in building sold lots. Several by me I know have been sold for a year+ & no building on them yet.
Jason says
People complaining about the cost of their water bill seem to (conveniently?) forget that that also includes your trash, recycling, yard waste, and sewer fees. Subtract that off your bill then compare your rates to surrounding areas and see how that aligns before pulling your megaphones out to scream at the clouds.