Census jobs all but over, Florida’s job picture stalled again in July as a mere 5,700 jobs were created, not enough to keep up with growth in the labor force. Unemployment edged up a decimal point, to 11.5 percent, with the number of unemployed Floridians at 1.055 million, according to figures released this morning by Florida’s labor department.
Click On:
- The Florida Labor Department’s Full July Unemployment Report
- June: US Economy Loses 131,000 Jobs, Unemployment Rate Stalls at 9.5%
- May: Census Jobs Help Lower Unemployment; Flagler at 15.1%, Florida at 11.7%
- April: Flagler Unemployment Lowest in a Year
- April: National Job Creation Soars by 290,000, Unemployment at 9.9%
- Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights: For Workers
- Where and how to file for unemployment
In Flagler County, where the unemployment rate had dipped to 15.1 percent two months ago, the rate started going back up last month, and rose again this month, to 15.6 percent (from June’s 15.4). But the county’s labor force of 32,898 grew as well, by 152 workers, reversing an earlier trend. The reversal suggests either that people who had previously been so discouraged by the labor picture to drop out of job searches altogether are again looking for work, or that more people are again moving into the county.
Flagler County does not have the highest unemployment rate in the state. Hendry County does, at 19.7 percent. Flagler is second. But that’s slightly deceiving. When measured by “metropolitan statistical areas,” the Palm Coast MSA ranks at the top of the unemployment table, with 15.6 percent unemployed. Sebastian-Vero Beach is second, at 14.9 percent, followed by the Port St. Lucie MSA, at 12.2 percent.
Ranked by county unemployment, Flagler is followed by St. Lucie (15.2), Indian River (14.9) and Okeechobee (14.6). The lowest unemployment rate is in Walton County (7.5 percent), followed by Liberty (7.6), Okaloosa (7.9), Monroe (7.9) and Lafayette (8.2).
In June across Florida most job sectors saw small but encouraging signs, as modest job gains were recorded in construction, manufacturing, trades, transportation, professional services, and in leisure and hospitality industries.
Not so in July. Construction was again on the losing end, shedding 2,700 jobs (and adding to job losses for the year to July of 27 percent in that sector). Trade and transportation also lost jobs, as did professional businesses, waste services and some (but not all) segments of the leisure industry. Government jobs were the biggest losers, with 3,400 jobs lost, mostly at the federal level (those census jobs again).
There were some gains: Manufacturing picked up 2,600 jobs, retail picked up 3,700 (electronics and appliance stores, food and beverage, health and personal care, clothing and accessories and department stores picked up the most while furniture and building material stores lost the most), and education and health care, the biggest winners, picked up 9,100 jobs.
Last month, the federal government extended the two unemployment compensation programs that had expired earlier in the year, the Emergency Unemployment
Compensation (EUC) program and the Extended Benefits (EB) program. The extensions are 100 percent federally funded and do not impact the state’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund or the state business tax. EUC provides up to 53 weeks of federally-funded benefits for those who have exhausted their regular
state claim. The new law did not create additional weeks of benefits but did extend the qualification deadline through November 2010. The agency began paying EUC benefits to qualified customers within one week of the legislation’s enactment and is on track to pay $3.6 billion to 527,000 people through April 2011.
EB provides up to 20 additional weeks of federally-funded benefits to people who exhaust all regular state benefits and EUC benefits, provided the state is in an EB period. Governor Crist signed Executive Order 10-170 on July 23, 2010, which extended Florida’s EB period by six months. The agency is on track to pay $604 million to 250,000 people by December 4, 2010.
Billy says
Abandon ship! Here’s some interesting stats, Palm Coast is highlighted on the first map with some dismal figures. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/08/where-the-blue-collar-jobs-will-be/61463/
Billy says
Look at this article too, the U.S. is now competitive with India’s call centers *sarcasm*
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0f6d8f76-aa29-11df-9367-00144feabdc0.html
Barbara Taylor says
What happened to the” summer of recovery”? Or was that only directed to the teacher unions!
Bob K says
Ah, the community organizer is doing a bang up job. Someone needs to tell this fool that this is not the 1950’s, and Keynesian economic theory went out the window when the economy went global. This IS the summer of recovery; Obama is recovering by taking as many vacations on our dime as he can before he’s thrown out of office.
starfyre says
i dont need a job-me and my hubby are happy being unemployed
concerned citizen says
I hope tha’ts sarcastic…
over it says
Bob K: So you are saying that when a President goes on vacation, his phone is off, calenders are wiped clean, and no presidential “work” is done at all?? Seriously? That must be nice, to not have any staff with you to disturb your relaxation.
here ya go Bob: http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=obama+vacations+vs+bush+vacations there are some good links there, should clear things up for you.
Barbara Taylor says
I am glad to see the community organizer is helping out the economy at Martha’s vineyard. The George Bush “miss me yet” t-shirt is out selling Obamas hoax and change.
Alex says
Small businesses are not generating jobs so vote Republican, Republicans will create jobs by pushing for “economical development”.
George says
The chamber and enterprise flagler want economic development by way of a tax and both boards of directors are comprised primarily of republicans, that doesn’t seem very republican like to me aren’t they always sayin’ lower taxes? mayor jon netts is on the board of enterprise flagler and he’s a republican and tom lawrence is on the chamber board and he runs the flagler county tea party, these are just a couple of examples, but there are more conservatives serving on each board.
Bob K says
Being we are in the midst of a recession and piling up debt at a staggering rate, I don’t think it’s appropriate to take all these vacations when every dollar they spend on them goes directly to the national debt. Also, the President is making numerous campaign-style trips that are not necessary. Since we are trying to get out of the “worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” we should be playing by different rules. Yes, Bush went on “vacation,” but they mostly to his ranch, which was referred to as the western White House. There was absolutely no reason for Michelle My Belle to go to Spain with 40 friends while we picked up the security and transportation tabs.
Over it says
Bob, bob, bob………………..we have been PILING UP DEBT since 2001…………remember Bush took office and there was a SURPLUS. Remember that?? (here the part where you remind ME that the Bush administration piled up debt due to the democratic congress………….and that the surplus was built up not by the Clinton administration but by the republican congress……..yadda yadda yadda. Blame whoever blows…………your skirt up at the time. So typical. So intelligient.
Since you didn’t address my questions, I’m going to assume that you believe that President Obama does not work while he is on “vacation”. But then you obviously believe that Bush “worked” while he was at the “western White House” How quaint??? Nice use of the quotations too Bob.
Can anyone criticize the Obama administration without sounding like a bird re-hashing a fox “news” <—–(ooh lookie, more quotes!!!) broadcast? I would love to hear what you REALLY think not what some talking head thinks. And yes I watch that channel.