Florida jobless rate falls slightly to 8 percent

Gov. Rick Scott, Mayor Buddy Dyer talk about Earlenterprises --formly Planet Hollywood International-- adding 90 jobs in Orlando.

By Jim Stratton, Orlando Sentinel

10:36 a.m. EST, January 18, 2013

Florida's statewide unemployment rate dipped slightly in December, falling to 8 percent, the lowest level the state has seen since November 2008.

The jobless rate was one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the previous month and almost 2 percentage points lower than it was at the same time a year ago.

The rate declined a bit even though the total number of jobs in the state ? which is calculated in a separate survey ? fell by 15,300. There are now about 749,000 unemployed Floridians out of a labor force of 9.3 million.

In Metro Orlando, the unemployment rate fell from 7.8 percent in November to 7.6 percent in December. The region gained 1,200 jobs over the month and almost 19,000 over the year ? an increase of 1.8 percent.

Of the state's 22 metro areas, only Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater added more jobs ? 21,000 ? than Orlando.

Florida's unemployment rate has now declined for 25 months in a row. Its monthly job growth has been positive in 14 of the last 18 months, and its year-over-year growth has been positive for 29 months in a row.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/orlandosentinel/news/~3/NDfwCD1832s/os-unemployment-florida-december-20130118,0,212837.story

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