On Monday, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) announced that the unemployment rate in the Sunshine State dropped to 4.8 percent in January.
DEO noted that the unemployment rate in December stood at 5.1 percent, revised from 6.1 percent when first projected.
From April 2020 to January 2021, Florida has gained a total of 714,900 private sector jobs including 1,700 ones in January. However, the state is still seeing 571,800 fewer jobs than from the start of 2020. The national unemployment rate stood at 6.3 percent in January.
“Florida’s economy remains resilient under Governor DeSantis’ leadership as we continue to see sustained month-over-month job growth,” said Dane Eagle, the executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. “Governor DeSantis has kept our state open for business, and I am proud of the work we have done to ensure Floridians continue to return to the workforce.”
St. Johns County and Monroe County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate in January with both counties at 3.5 percent followed by Wakulla County at 3.7 percent and Santa Rosa County, Okaloosa County and Collier County at 3.9 percent each.
Miami Dade County had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 8.1 percent followed by Osceola County at 7.0 percent, Hamilton County at 6.7 percent and Putnam County at 6.6 percent.
