Florida’s unemployment rate remains on the rise

Even as Gov. Rick Scott was announcing the state created 31,600 private-sector jobs in November, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said the Sunshine State’s unemployment rate rose for the second consecutive month.

Officials on Friday announced the state’s jobless rate was 4.9 percent in November, the second straight month it has risen by 0.1 percentage points.

Florida’s unemployment is now higher than the national rate of 4.6 percent. There were 482,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 9.8 million.

Manatee and Sarasota counties both had jobless rates of 4.6 percent, lower than the state’s and equal to the national average. Nearby, Hillsborough County was at 4.5 percent, and Pinellas was 4.4

Monroe County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 3.2 percent, followed by St. Johns County at 3.8 percent and Lafayette County at 4.1 percent.

Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate at 9.1 percent, followed by Sumter at 7 percent, and Citrus and Highlands counties at 6.8 percent.

Overall, the Labor Department said unemployment rates fell sharply in 18 states and had little chang in 32 others.

Florida reported the largest job gain in November, adding 29,600 jobs, followed by Indiana, which gained 13,100 jobs, and South Carolina, with 12,500.

The largest drops in unemployment rates last month occurred in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Missouri, each of which saw a decline of 0.4 percent.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate fell to a nine-year low of 4.6 percent last month, as employers added 178,000 jobs. But much of the drop occurred because more Americans stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Florida’s unemployment rate remains on the rise."