• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Florida Adds 125,000 Jobs, Dropping Unemployment to 3.6%, Flagler’s at 3.8%

November 17, 2017 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

flagler florida unemployment 2017 november
Post-recession lows all around. (© FlaglerLive)

In some months during the economic expansion of the last eight years, the national economy would grow by around 125,000 jobs. In October, Florida achieved that feat by itself–the largest single-job gain since the Great Recession, sending the state’s unemployment rate plummeting to 3.8 percent, another post-recession low.


Flagler County didn’t do badly either, with its unemployment rate also falling a decimal point to another post-recession low of 3.8 percent (better than Germany or Norway, Europe’s perennial best performers), although not because the county added jobs. Rather, its labor force shrunk by about 250 workers, to 46,000, just 550 more than at this point a year ago. The number of people holding jobs fell by about 200, but the number of unemployed also fell, to 1,766.

A year ago, Flagler’s unemployment rate was at 5.6 percent, and Florida’s at 4.8 percent. But almost two-thirds of Florida’s job gain of 197,000 over the year took place in October. In essence, the state saw little negative effect from Hurricane Irma despite its severity and the disruptions it spread over Florida.

Gov. Rick Scott was in Naples this morning for the jobs announcement. “I am proud to announce today that Florida’s unemployment rate has reached a more than 10-year low of 3.6 percent and that more than 127,000 private-sector jobs were created in October.” As has been the governor’s habit, he ignored public-sector jobs, which declined slightly last month.

“While Hurricane Irma was a devastating storm, we have worked day after day to help communities recover and send a message across the world that Florida is open for business. Today’s announcement, and the creation of more than 1.44 million private-sector jobs since December 2010, shows the strength of our economy.”

As of October, Florida’s unemployment rate had dropped 7.1 percentage points since December 2010, largely hewing to the decline across the nation (the two lines have paralleled each other within a fraction or two along the way). In the last year, 216,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 2.2 percent, more than four times the national labor force growth rate of 0.5 percent.

On the other hand, Florida’s quality of jobs remains low compared to the rest of the nation, with its ranks of underemployed at 9.5 percent, still well above the national average of 8.9 percent. That alternate measure of labor underutilization, as the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics defines it, includes discouraged workers who have quit looking for work and, more significantly, it includes people working part-time for economic reasons–meaning that they could not find full time work, either because their hours had been cut back or because the jobs were not available. That’s a class of part-time workers separate from those who choose to work part-time.

Florida is heavily dependent on low-wage jobs that support its hospitality and agriculture industries. Wages in the state have historically been lower than in the northeast or Midwest largely because of labor conditions that tend to favor employers at the expense of workers, and because unions are few and weak in the state. The Legislature has fought municipalities that have attempted to institute living wages, or minimum wages that would nearly double the prevailing wage of $8.10 an hour.

Almost every sector of the economy added jobs in October, exceptions being in finance and insurance, a sector that shed a little over 1,000 jobs, and in local government, which lost 3,800 jobs.

The full employment report is below.

Florida Unemployment Report: October 2017

Click to access florida-unemployment-october-2017.pdf

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Really says

    November 17, 2017 at 4:22 pm

    At least one can work if they have the desire to.

    Reply
  2. Shaba13 says

    November 17, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    Just waiting to read.. thanks Obama

    Reply
  3. Makeitso1701 says

    November 17, 2017 at 9:48 pm

    Thank you, Thank you President Obama. You are sorely missed.

    Reply
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Craig on Crumbl Cookies Opening Soon at Palm Coast’s Island Walk
  • FlaglerLive on Its Streets Degrading, Palm Coast Looks for Electric Vehicles to Pay Their Fair Share of Road Taxes
  • Pierre Tristam on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 3, 2023
  • Pogo on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 3, 2023
  • Deborah Coffey on Debt Deal a Rare Triumph for Political Center
  • Skibum on Drunk Driver Allegedly Goes Nuts on Deputy After Crashing Into Hydrant
  • Joshua Rosenbloom on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 3, 2023
  • Day One. on Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
  • The dude on Drunk Driver Allegedly Goes Nuts on Deputy After Crashing Into Hydrant
  • Jane on Drunk Driver Allegedly Goes Nuts on Deputy After Crashing Into Hydrant
  • Friedrich Gretsch on Palm Coast’s Belk Converted Into One of 16 Outlet Stores as Company Struggles
  • jeffery seib on Drunk Driver Allegedly Goes Nuts on Deputy After Crashing Into Hydrant
  • Jimbo99 on Debt Deal a Rare Triumph for Political Center
  • Lance Carroll on At FPC, Misplaced ‘Man Cave’ Culture and Improprieties Cause Demise of Girls’ Basketball Coach
  • Aves on A Trans Teen No Longer Feels Welcome in Florida. So She Left.
  • TR on Drunk Driver Allegedly Goes Nuts on Deputy After Crashing Into Hydrant

Log in