Florida’s jobless rate climbs as 770,000 remain unemployed; Manatee rate drops

Florida’s unemployment rate climbed in September as hundreds of thousands of residents remained without a job — a sign the economic crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic shows little sign of abating.

But in Manatee County, the unemployment rate dropped by half of a percentage point, remaining below the state rate by two percentage points.

The Department of Economic Opportunity said Friday that the state’s jobless rate increased from 7.3% to 7.6% from August, with the total number of jobless Floridians increasing by 27,000 to 770,000. The state added 47,300 jobs last month, a decrease from the 57,900 added in August and an indication that job creation is slowing.

Nationally, the unemployment rate stood at 7.9%.

The report does not incorporate Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Sept. 25 reopening order, a fact most acutely reflected in the just 300 jobs added in the state’s accommodation and food services industry for the month. The state remains 234,000 leisure and hospitality jobs short of where it was a year ago.

In Manatee County, the unemployment rate dropped from 6.1% in August to 5.6% in September. The number of people working increased by 400 to 173,313. The number of people unemployed dropped by 913, to 9,698 in September.

In Sarasota County, the unemployment rate also dropped from 6.1% in August to 5.6% in September. Last month, the number of people working in Sarasota increased by 211 to 182,102.

Among metropolitan statistical areas, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall now has the state’s highest unemployment rate, at 13%. The rate in the Orlando MSA, which had previously been the state’s highest, fell from 10.8% to 9.8%.

The rate in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA dropped from 6.1% in August to 5.6% in September — tied for the eighth-lowest of Florida’s 25 metro areas with Ocala. The lowest MSA unemployment rate was 4.1% in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin in the Florida Panhandle.