For the past 10 years, the red line you see in the graph above, the line that represent’s Flagler County’s unemployment rate, has been the outlier. The line for several years marked the county with the worst unemployment in the state, and with one of the worst unemployment rates of any county in the nation. The red line has been falling steadily and at times sharply for the past four years, but the gap between it and the state and national rates kept it as an outlier.
No longer.
For the first time in a decade, Flagler County’s unemployment rate in April matched the exact average of Florida’s, falling to 4.5 percent, itself the latest post-recession low, and getting close to, if not reaching, what is considered full employment. Flagler’s unemployment rate is now just a decimal point above the national unemployment rate of 4.4 percent.
For the past year, and with just a couple of exceptions, the county’s unemployment rate has managed to remain flat or to fall, and to do so despite a sharp increase in the local labor force, which has grown by about 1,000, or 2 percent, since last May. The county has seen the number of residents with job increase by about 1,400 over the period, to 43,706, while the number of the unemployed has fallen to just 2,000.
In April, the number of the unemployed fell by almost 200, though the labor force shrank almost equally, and the overall number of Flagler County residents with jobs fell by 100. The number of job-holders does not reflect the number of jobs in Flagler County-Palm Coast, but rather the number of county residents holding jobs anywhere in the region, including Flagler and surrounding counties. A job is not necessarily full time: a worker needs only to have recorded an hour’s work in the period covered by the unemployment report to count as a person holding a job.
Gov. Rick Scott marked today’s unemployment numbers by noting their new milestone, with the 4.5 percent rate being at its lowest since September 2007. As is customary with this governor, he pointed out only private sector job creation in a release issued by the labor department, which stood at 15,000 in April, though it masks a sharp drop in public-sector jobs, held by 11 to 12 percent of the workforce. Some 3,700 jobs were lost in government in Florida last month, most concentrated in state and local jobs. So the state’s actual job creation was 10,900, still a healthy number.
CareerSource issued the following highlights about the area’s jobs picture:
• The unemployment rate in the CareerSource Flagler Volusia region (Flagler and Volusia counties) was 4.3 percent in April 2017. This rate was 0.5 percentage point lower than the region’s year ago rate of 4.8 percent. Out of a labor force of 295,527 there were 12,579 unemployed residents in the region.
• In April 2017 nonagricultural employment in the Deltona‐Daytona Beach‐Ormond Beach MSA was 200,800, an increase of 3,000 jobs (+1.5 percent) over the year. The Deltona‐Daytona Beach‐Ormond Beach MSA was tied with the second fastest annual job growth rate compared to all the metro areas in the state in mining, logging, and construction (+9.2 percent) in April 2017. It had the second fastest annual job growth rate compared to all the metro areas in the state in trade, transportation, and utilities (+5.4 percent) in April 2017.
• The industries gaining in jobs over the year were: trade, transportation, and utilities (+2,000 jobs); mining, logging, and construction (+1,100 jobs); professional and business services (+500 jobs); other services (+400 jobs); and government (+200 jobs). The leisure and hospitality (‐800 jobs); education and health services (‐300 jobs); and manufacturing (‐100 jobs) industries lost jobs over the year.
The full unemployment report is below.
Florida Unemployment Report, April 2017
Click to access flagler-florida-unemployment-april-2017.pdf
Knightwatch says
And here come the conservatives crediting the trumppet for this good news. Only took 4 months, too. All the while creating chaos in America. This guy is pure magic!
Brian says
Trump is Awesome! turned the economy around in 100 days. Obama had 8 years little of no growth, except for welfare roles of course. Thank God for Donalds commitment to getting American’s back to work and keeping jobs in America. The America first policy is paying dividends. Can’t wait for the tax breaks and removal of the job taking illegals to be sent back over the wall. And yes, i will pick my own strawberries Snowflakes.
Fredrick says
Nightwatch As I said during the previous failed administration we suffered through for 8 years, This number is BS or at least has do be taken with a full bag of rock salt. The rules that are used to calculate it have changed from admin to admin to make it look favorable. Let’s talk about the number on welfare and food stamps. Those that have given up and not counted any longer. Not those that have retired but those who still should be counted in the workforce. Let’s work to get jobs back that people can earn a living at. No not at MsDonalds making $15 an hour… those are not jobs are not meant to be something that someone does as a career unless you are going to become a manager there. Let’s work to make working (this includes real work, you know the kind that might make you dirty and sweaty), a better option or required before you get a check for doing nothing all day and then collecting a check. Maybe that person on welfare and food stamps that is not doing anything and is perfectly capable of doing something, could come over and mow your lawn instead of you paying cash to the individual who is in the country illegally and not paying taxes on the cash you are slipping to him? I am not talking about the “dreamers” or those who have been here for a long long time. Just those that were included in the flood we had during the last administration. Also not talking about those who truly need and deserve assistance. If you libs would do something with the “few” to use the term libs use to describe it, you would hear less bitching from the conservatives. We are really not bad people. We have hearts. We are not wanting to kill babies and put families out on the street. It’s just that we are tired of being taken advantage of, tired of being called racists, tired of being called “deplorable”. The list goes on. Look what that has gotten all of us. Look at what a Congress that does nothing but pander for themselves get’s us (that goes for both sides). It got us Trump. I am not a Trump fan. He is a buffoon, but he was a hell of a lot better option than HRC. Wanna talk about collusion and thievery… let’s talk HRC and the DNC and CNN and the Clinton” Foundation”, Bill visiting Lorreta on her plane, and of course who can forget, HRC and her server….
If the libs and the Media keep on the path they are on of obstructionism, you are going to be surprised again in the next round of elections. We will end up with more “outsiders” running, telling people what they want to hear and they will get elected. Maybe that’s a good thing, but maybe it gets us more Trumps too. Who knows. But those who are tired of the shit that went on the last 8 years, and administrations before that, are not as vocal as the libs, they don’t go rioting, they don’t have the media out there telling the world how f’ed up everything is, but they sure spoke up in the last election. It left all of you and the Media dumbfounded. It’s going to happen again if you guys and the entire Congress don’t cut your shit and move on so we can get something done.
Can’t you just admit that if the best that we as a country can do, is put up HRC and Trump, both sides are in a sad state of affairs?
USA Lover says
More minimum wage jobs. Yippee!!!!!!!!!
Sherry Epley says
annnnnd. . . Here are some real facts regarding trump’s job creation. . . take a read. . . that is IF you still care about FACTS at all:
http://fortune.com/2017/03/29/president-trump-job-claims-fact-check/
Sw says
@Brian have you looked at the GDP #s lol
Katie Semore says
@Brian, tell us please how Trump has turned the economy around? The unemployment rate has steadily been going down for years, just look at the chart.
PC Citizen says
The numbers are highly misleading. Many who are unemployed are not counted as unemployed because governments always cook the numbers to make themselves look better.
And for those people who do have jobs what kind of jobs are they and do they pay a living wage?
Economic development in this county and the region as a whole is a joke. The economy is not diversified and relies too heavily on housing, healthcare, hospitality and government. Most of these jobs do not pay a living wage and I can tell you from experience that the job market here is not friendly to those who are 55+.
The region needs more diversification of its economy. A good start would be to add manufacturing and technology jobs that pay something close to on par with the rest of the country. More people with more money to spend would be better for everyone here.
In the current economic environment here it is hard to earn more that 25k pa even if you have multiple degrees and decades of experience unless you have connections.
What about services for the unemployed to help them get jobs? The services offered here are pathetic. Courses on MS office and resume writing are what they are offering. This is of no use to anyone. I have been using MS Office since the Clinton administration and writing resumes since the Carter administration.
The services that should be offered should instead be based on information collected from local businesses regarding their needs. This information should then be used to match candidates with jobs. If training is needed then that should be identified and dealt with as either on the job training or through the appropriate educational channels. The CareerSource Flagler Volusia people here in Palm Coast do none of that.
The next time you publish an article like this please make the information more comprehensive rather than just propaganda for the government.
Geezer says
Quick comments: Easy
Footnotes and sources: Not-So-Easy
Calling people snowflakes: Projecting
Understanding of how things actually work: Increasingly rare in an age of anti-intellectualism…
It’s like going back to elementary school and hating the smart children. And now hating them
more because they employ you. 1/2 of the USA worships morons and gangsters who blow their
noses using their sleeve as a Kleenex.
Flushing the toilet and watching the water carry waste away shouldn’t be fascinating, but it may
be a better choice than consuming right-wing media.
bob says
CLINTON STILL LOST!!!! HA HA HA HA HA