Manatee County joblessness drops in November
MANATEE -- Unemployment in Manatee County fell in November as the employment picture continued on a six-year winning streak in Florida and the United States overall. Going along for the ride were Manatee and Sarasota counties, which saw some of the best employment numbers in the state.
According to estimates released Friday by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Florida's seasonally adjusted jobless rate hit 5 percent for the month, mirroring the national rate. Compared to November 2014, unemployment in Florida was down from 5.7 percent. In all, 8,184,800 Floridians went to work during the month, an increase of 35,200 over October.
Manatee County notched one of the lower unemployment rates among the state's 67 counties at 4.6 percent. That's well down from earlier in the year and from the 4.9 percent rate the month before. DEO figures showed that 7,323 people in the county were out of work during the month out of a workforce of 160,795.
The jobless rate in Sarasota County in November was 4.5 percent on a workforce of 176,140. About 640 more county residents were at work in November than in October, according to the DOE.
Monroe County had the lowest unemployment rate for the month at 3.9 percent.
Anthony Gagliano, the director of business services for employment agency CareerSource Suncoast, said his organization is still seeing a wide variety of job seekers at its agency locations and job fairs. But with the economy continuing to improve, the overall number of job searchers is definitely less.
On the employer side, CareerSource is seeing significant demand. Among the top job postings are those for customer service representatives and nurses.
"This is the most robust it has been in terms of job postings," Gagliano said.
Among non-agricultural jobs, the industry sector gaining the most workers in the state was trade, transportation and utilities, which added 42,900 jobs month over month. Other sectors gaining jobs included professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, private education and health services, construction, financial activities, government and manufacturing.
Gov. Rick Scott marked the good employment news Friday by singling out the Tampa area as being the top job gainer in the state during the past year. Tampa has added more than 40,000 jobs during that period, according to a press release from Scott's office.
"This growth is helping Florida become first for jobs, and we look forward to seeing more businesses and families succeed in our great state," Scott said.
During November, the Northport-Sarasota-Bradenton metropolitan statistical area actually measured a bit ahead of Tampa, tying for the second lowest unemployment rate in Florida. Tampa was third.
Among non-agricultural jobs, the industry sector gaining the most workers in the state was trade, transportation and utilities, which added 42,900 jobs month over month. Other sectors gaining jobs included professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, private education and health services, construction, financial activities, government and manufacturing.
Orlando economist Henry Fishkind predicted in January that Manatee County will see even stronger job growth in 2016.
Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027, or on Twitter@MattAtBradenton.
This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Manatee County joblessness drops in November ."