Flagler County’s unemployment rate again crossed the 4 percent threshold, for the fourth time in six months, registering at a not-seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in January, up from 3.7 percent in December and 3.6 percent a year ago. The more telling average of the last 12 months was 3.7 percent, compared to 3.3 percent for the previous 12 months, underscoring a small but perceptive trend upward.
Flagler County’s rate is the 13th highest out of 67 Florida counties, with Putnam at 4.2 percent, Volusia at 3.7 and St. Johns at 3 percent. The county with the lowest rate by far was Miami-Dade, at 1.4 percent. (Over 10 percent of the state’s manufacturing jobs are in Miami-Dade, with 42,200 jobs with average wages of $74,588, according to the Commerce Department.)
Florida’s rate was 3.1 percent, matching the revised rate of December, which the Commerce Department had originally reported at 2.9 percent. Florida’s average unemployment rate over the past 12 months is 3.2 percent, same as the previous 12 months.
One reason for Flagler’s unemployment increase is that the labor force continued to grow, as it has slowly but steadily for the past several years, adding 166 workers in January and 1,437 since last January. But the number of job holders did not grow apace. The number of Flagler residents with jobs declined by 32, to 49,618, and the number of people without jobs–the unemployed–increased by 198, to 2,130. That is the second highest number of unemployed persons in the county in two and a half years, with one exception: there were 2,185 people without jobs last August. (The previous high figure was 2,377 in 2021.)
To be registered as an employed person, a Flagler County resident has to have worked at least one hour in the previous period examined by the jobs report. The location of the job is irrelevant. Unemployment figures are recorded by residency, not job location, so Flagler residents registered as employed may be holding full or part-time jobs in the county, in any of the surrounding counties, or by telecommute. The jobs report does not break down those categories. Nor does it distinguish between full time or part time work, or between the voluntary part-time workers and those working part-time only because they couldn’t find full-time work.
Nationally, there were 4.4 million workers employed part-time for economic reasons–because they couldn’t find full-time work. There were 2 million workers who were either marginally attached to the labor force or had stopped looking for work altogether.
Florida keeps its official unemployment rate deceptively low thanks to the state’s draconian rules for the unemployed. Those rules require unemployed persons regularly to prove that they are looking for work, while their unemployment benefits, at $275 a week the lowest in the nation, run out after 12 weeks. Once the unemployed are off the rolls, they are no longer counted as unemployed. The federal Labor Department’s Alternative Measure of Labor Underutilization does include those working part-time involuntarily as well as discouraged workers who are no longer looking for work. That rate for Florida is currently 5.9 percent, or 2.8 percentage points higher than the official rate the state is reporting. The national rate is 6.9 percent. (See the alternative rate for all states here.)
The state added 38,800 jobs in January, for an increase of 259,600 jobs over the year, resulting in a labor force of just over 11 million and 340,000 officially jobless Floridians. Most sectors gained jobs or stayed flat, with more pronounced gains in construction, retail, finance and insurance, real estate, health care and social assistance, and a very strong 1.6 percent gain (the highest proportional increase of all sectors) in arts, entertainment and recreation, and a 1 percent increase in federal jobs. There were decreases in state government jobs, management, and transportation and warehousing.
Mark says
It would be nice if Palm Coast and Flagler County actively sought out industry with all that land West including the FEC tracks that could have rail spurs to those industries that require rail access. Along with a dedicated truck route for easy access to 95 and 1 for an industrial park or two that could lower the unemployment here.
Endless Dark Money says
haha what a fraud of a number. Rcons should be proud and boasting such low unemployment numbers! Theres no jobs in Flagler most work in surrounding towns and of the jobs that are there a vast majority are poverty jobs that arent meant for you to survive on… Florida UE max $275 before tax after missing 8 days of pay. Even in TX its 577$ weekly max so more than double.
They knew these figures were BS when they released them. U6 is better figure for unemployment and tracks more than double the “official” manipulated statistics. Rick Scott has boasted many times about the number of people he kicked off unemployment. They make sure the computer systems dont work, there are 117 fraud warnings, and you will be placed on hold for multiple hours, helps keep people from claiming, then if you manage to get through you will be homeless in under a month as 275 may have been good in 1924 but in 2024 it would barely cover your electric.
Willy Boy says
No surprises! Unfortunately, this happens when the county and cities don’t push economic development. We need a significant push for both white and blue-collar industries. Hightech should be at the head of the list, as there appears to be abundant high-tech talent in our schools and workforce.
Shark says
When will Alfin and his cronies realize that storage facilities don’t offer many jobs !!!!
Pogo says
@Eureaka!!!
Flagler County/Palm Coast has only one actual problem: its retirees’ plea to be freed from idle leisure for a job in construction, manufacturing, and road paving, so they can afford to hire someone to make their bed — is ignored by the people they elected. Those elected rascals better get on the ball; a lot of those characters are strapped 24/7.
Donald Raymond says
Yet 20K people moved to Flagler since 2020…..Makes little sense.
Dave says
Well is does when are 65 and older. From the March 6, 2024 Palm Coast Observer “Between 2020 and 2030, Flagler County’s population of residents aged 65 years and older is expected to increase by 12,000 total residents. I guess this is way the new Hospital was built.
The dude says
That unemployment rate is what you get when Florida man would rather grift off the olds doing “handyman” work and pick palmetto berries, rather than get a regular job that you have to show up for everyday.
The city of Palm Coast sees no need to change the long term growth plan for the city, which appears to be rely heavily on the retireds with those sweet benefits.
As a result of that growth plan we see an influx of folks from Jersey, many who worked lifetimes of blue collar work.
Blue collar workers from red states simply don’t have those sweet retirements to launch them into a life of leisure on the Space Coast… yet those same Jersey folks who managed to build those sweet retirements because of blue state policies will $hit on those same blue state policies any and every chance they get.
You just don’t see many retired plumbers or welders from Alabama, Mississippi, or W. Virginia in central Floriduh.