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Flagler County’s Unemployment Rate Falls to Record Low of 2.6%, Beating Housing and Pre-Pandemic Booms

May 20, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Click on the graph for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)
Click on the graph for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County’s unemployment rate in April fell to 2.6 percent, the lowest level ever recorded in Florida Department of Economic Opportunity figures going back to 1990. The county’s labor force and the number of people holding jobs are also at record highs.




The county’s unemployment level has fallen from 13.7 percent two years ago, and from 3.9 percent at the beginning of the year. Before the pandemic, Flagler’s unemployment hit a low of 3.4 in December 2019 and 3.2 percent in February 2020, the month when the Covid virus was beginning to spread rapidly in the country. In the two previous booms on record, Flagler’s unemployment rate had fallen to a low of 3.6 percent in December 2005, at the crest of the housing boom, before starting to rise the following year. In the late 1990s boom, the county’s unemployment hit 2.7 percent in September 1999 (when 486 people were unemployed), until now the lowest rate recorded.

The lower rate in April was achieved despite a slight increase in the labor force, which also broke a new record. Flagler’s labor force is now 49,199, breaking the previous record, set last October, of 49,000. The labor force points to several economic factors–the willingness of people who had dropped out of the labor force to rejoin it, the attractiveness of the county to working-age people, and the continuing increase in the county’s population. While the population increase has been unquestionable over the last few years, it has been heavily skewed toward older retirees.

So between the school-aged and the county’s retirees, the workforce remains only 40 percent or so of the total population. But it is larger by some 1,300 workers, compared to a year ago.




The number of unemployed residents in Flagler fell to 1,278 in April, down 70 from a month earlier and down over 1,000 from a year ago. The county-level figures the Department of Economic Opportunity are not seasonally adjusted. A total of 47,921 people held jobs in April, also a record. Job holders don;t necessarily work in Flagler. The figure represents Flagler County residents who hold jobs, whether the job is in the county, in surrounding counties or a telecommuting job. The figure does not distinguish between full and part-time work. A person is recorded as employed the moment he or she records one hour of work in the period surveyed.

A decade ago, Flagler was struggling month after month with the bleak distinction of having the highest unemployment rate in the state. Today, despite the strong showing, it’s still only in 17th place from Putnam’s state-leading high of 3.6 percent unemployment. Only nine counties have unemployment rates of 3 percent or above, and seven have unemployment rates below 2 percent, among them St. Johns, with 1.7 percent. Monroe has the lowest rate: 1.5 percent.

Florida’s unemployment rate fell to 3 percent in April, with 321,000 Floridians out of work and looking for work. The figure is somewhat deceptive. The state has one of the most draconian unemployment systems, if participants are seeking unemployment compensation. They must follow rigorous rules, prove that they are looking for work or else become ineligible for compensation. Those booted off the rolls no longer count as unemployed, even though they are out of work.

As such, the state’s official unemployment rate undercounts those who are under-employed or who have dropped out of the labor force. The federal government’s alternative unemployment rate accounts for those workers, and places Florida’s unemployment and underemployment rate at 7.6 percent. The nation’s alternative rate is currently 8.4 percent.




Speaking in West palm Beach today, Gov. Ron DeSantis took credit for the state’s healthy economy, and said the state’s reserves are at $20 billion, not including federal government aid. The claim, however, is slightly deceptive, reflecting an accounting shell game, as that aid has been used in various parts of the budget in place of state dollars, enabling those dollars to be counted as reserves. The governor spoke today from a Retro Fitness gym in West palm Beach. A governor’s press release states that “Retro Fitness moved to West Palm Beach from New York and New Jersey in order to continue operating and opening gyms in the face of unprecedented lockdowns during the pandemic.”

In fact, Retro Fitness continues to operate numerous locations in New York and New Jersey, and is merely expanding south. Last year it moved its headquarters to West Palm Beach as “a strategic relocation for the brand amid its 15th year anniversary, prompted by Retro Fitness’ continued national growth and expansion,” according to a company release at the time.

See the full unemployment report here.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Foresee says

    May 20, 2022 at 6:00 pm

    Keep those rosy tinted glasses on! When the economy looks brightest that is an indicator of a bubble about to burst. Aside from the bubble of 2008, the recession of 1979 was caused by the Iranian oil crisis. People waited in line for hours to get one dollar of gas due to gas rationing.

  2. BMW says

    May 20, 2022 at 6:59 pm

    One important factor in the numbers are those of us retired folk who have been forced to go back to work under the highest inflation rates of our lifetime. So ding Desantis all you want …. but, your friends in Washington have a role in the 1.25 million retired people with no choice but to return to the workforce to survive.

  3. Shark says

    May 21, 2022 at 9:11 am

    I guess all of the grass cutting, gas station and pizza joint jobs are getting filled!!

  4. The dude says

    May 21, 2022 at 10:25 am

    What has Washington DC done to “cause” inflation, besides bring unemployment down to record low levels?

  5. DaleL says

    May 21, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    Most retired folk have good enough memories to remember the highest inflation in our lifetimes was at the end of Jimmy Carter’s presidency and into Ronald Reagan’s. Today’s inflation does have some of its roots in the policies of the Federal Government (Washington). The pandemic stimulus spending during both the Trump and Biden administrations has pumped huge amounts of money into the economy.

    With the pandemic waning, more people are working (earning money).

    Whereas, the COVID-19 pandemic has interfered with the supply of goods and services.

    Lots of money (stimulus + jobs) chasing limited goods and services = inflation.

  6. Steve says

    May 21, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    It started back at the end of Bush beginning of Obama. Bernanke FRB Chair and Hank Paulsen to save Lehman. You are correct but a longer time frame. Print print print has come home to roost.

  7. RAW says

    May 24, 2022 at 8:40 am

    It’s not Washington, D.C., but what’s running the country in Washington, D.C.

  8. Mark1 says

    May 26, 2022 at 10:52 am

    The person that created this problem in Washington DC has been voted out. 4 more years and this thing will turned around just in time for you to claim it was the other guy we should thank. This nonsense will never end. You all are stuck on a wheel

  9. Been There says

    May 26, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    This is what is considered an “unhealthy” unemployment rate because it indicates a serious workforce shortage.

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