TAMPA, Fla. — The February unemployment numbers released by the state of Florida on Friday showed an overall rate of 3.1%, below the national average of 3.9%. But in many of the state's counties, unemployment rose as job creation couldn't keep up with new residents in the work force.
Overall, Florida reported 345,000 residents were jobless out of a labor force of 11,089,00. The state report showed 226,200 jobs were created from February 2023 to February 2024, an increase of 2.3%. That was just above the number of jobs created nationally which rose at 1.8% year over year.
The county-level showed some concerning developments as 2024 continues through the month of March. These numbers from the state are not seasonally adjusted.
According to the state numbers, the unemployment rate in Hillsborough County grew from 2.7% in February 2023 to 3.2% in February 2024. It was also sitting at 3.2% in January 2024. The county gained over 16,000 new workers during that time, but the jobs couldn't keep up.
It was a similar situation in Pinellas County, where the unemployment rate grew from 2.6% in February 2023 to 3.1% in February 2024. Pinellas' labor force grew by a little more than 11,000 people in that time.
The story was the same in Polk County, where fewer new workers were added, but the unemployment rate remained up year over year. In February 2023, Polk had an unemployment rate of 3.3%, while it jumped to 3.9% in February 2024, though that was down from 4.0% in January 2024.
Pasco County's unemployment rate jumped from 3.0% in February 2023 to 3.8% in February 2024. According to the state, Pasco added 7,000 residents during the last year.
Sarasota County's unemployment rate moved from 2.8% in February 2023 to 3.4% in February 2024, while Manatee County's unemployment rate rose 0.6% to 3.4% in February 2024. Both counties added a combined nearly 10,000 residents from February 2023 to February 2024.
But unemployment didn't just jump in counties closest to major cities last year. Citrus County reported an increase of more than 1%, from 4.1% to 5.2%, while Hernando County's increased 0.9% year over year.
“Really anyone who wants a job in the Tampa Bay Area can pretty much find job,” said Doug Tobin, spokesperson for CareerSource Tampa Bay. “That three percent, though, are those people that probably need some extra help, and that’s what we can do here at CareerSource Tampa Bay.”
Tobin said they are seeing about 20 to 25 percent more people every day coming into their Tampa job center from a year ago.
“We are seeing the higher numbers of 150, 190 people coming in here every day,” said Tobin. “Now, some of that may be what we’re seeing is some people who during COVID left the workforce are starting to come back into the workforce.”
CareerSource has many resources available to those who need it, including resume and interview help.
“We have a special program right now that if you are unemployed or if you were recently unemployed or if you’ve exhausted some of your unemployment, we do have programs that can help those people up to $5,000 worth of money available for job retraining,” said Tobin.
On Friday, William Lafond sat at CareerSource Tampa Bay, looking for his next opportunity. He said he was recently let go and is back on the job market.
“I see a lot of jobs in the field that I’m looking for, so I’m hoping I can get something quick, you know what I mean, don’t want to wait three, four, five months looking for work,” said Lafond.
Job seekers like Lafond are hopeful a new opportunity is right around the corner.
“Hopefully, we get something fast and get back on the horse,” said Lafond.
