Unemployment rate ticks up for Bradenton area and Florida

Even as Florida added more than 54,000 jobs in January to lead the nation, the state’s unemployment rate ticked slightly upward during the first month of 2017.

According to the latest numbers released by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity on Monday, unemployment rose to 5 percent in January, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from December 2016.

This is the first time the state’s unemployment rate has reached 5 percent since January 2016. Nationally, the jobless rate is 4.7 percent.

Though the Tampa Bay metro area continues to rank among the state’s top job creators, adding nearly 37,000 during the past year, the year-over-year unemployment rate rose in both Manatee and Sarasota counties.

The breakdown:

▪ Manatee County, 4.9 percent in January 2017, up from 4.4 percent in December and 4.7 percent in January 2016.

▪ Sarasota County, 5 percent in January 2017, up from 4.3 percent in December and 4.8 percent in January 2016.

The rise in unemployment comes as state lawmakers continue to target the elimination of Enterprise Florida and other economic incentive programs. On Friday, the Florida House voted 87-28 to kill the agency Gov. Rick Scott has relied on for the past six years to lure business to the Sunshine State to create jobs.

Speaking Monday at Herc Rentals Inc. in Bonita Springs to tout the nearly 51,000 private-sector jobs created in the state in January, Scott criticized the lawmakers for voting in favor of a bill (HB 7005) that would shutter the state’s economic development agency.

“It makes no sense to me,” Scott said. “The House took a vote last week, and they said we don’t need Enterprise Florida anymore. That’s going to absolutely kill jobs. That’s going to kill opportunities.”

To that end, Scott continues to host roundtable discussions across the state as he fights for the future of Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida, the state’s primary tourism marketing agency that came under fire because of a secret $1 million contract with music artist Pitbull.

Scott is scheduled to host a roundtable in Sarasota this week, though a date hasn’t been announced.

Cissy Proctor, the Department of Economic Opportunity’s executive director, said the push to create jobs in Florida would continue.

“Florida must build on the momentum of the last six years by continuing to support economic diversification and job creation opportunities for all Floridians,” she said.

Even though Florida added jobs (54,300 in January), the labor force also grew, going from 9.91 million in December to 9.97 million in the first month of 2017.

Monroe County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 3.5 percent, while Hendry County had the highest at 8.1. Hillsborough County was at 4.9 percent, the same as Manatee, and Pinellas was at 4.8 percent.

This story was originally published March 13, 2017 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Unemployment rate ticks up for Bradenton area and Florida."