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County unemployment jumps to 7.8 percent
After hovering around the 7 percent mark for three straight months, Franklin County’s unemployment rate shot up by seven-tenths of 1 percent in October, as the workforce shrank and more people lost their jobs.
According to preliminary labor market statistics released Friday by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, the county’s overall jobless rate was at 7.8 percent in October, as 357 people out of a labor force of 4,573 were without work.
The jobless rate in September was at 7.1 percent, with 333 people looking for employment out of a larger labor force of 4,672.
One year ago, in Oct. 2008, Franklin’s workforce was slightly larger at 4,684 workers, and its jobless rate was much lower, at 4.6 percent, with only 217 jobless.
"Until our economy recovers, job seekers will outnumber the amount of jobs available and the unemployment rate will fluctuate some. We have seen some positive economic signs with local manufacturing starting to pick up," said Kim Bodine, executive director for the Gulf Coast Workforce Board.
Franklin’s October numbers placed it at 11th best in the state, trailing Wakulla at 7.7, Holmes at 7.5, Okaloosa at 7.4 and Lafayette and Walton counties, both at 7.3 percent.
Liberty was the best in the state at 5.4, followed by Monroe at 7.0 percent and Alachua and Leon counties both at 7.1 percent. Many of the counties with the lowest unemployment rates were those with relatively high proportions of government employment.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October 2009 is 11.2 percent, nearly unchanged from the month before, and representing 1.03 million jobless out of a labor force of 9.2 million.
The state’s current unemployment rate is 1.0 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate of 10.2 percent. October’s rate was the highest since June 1975 when it was also 11.2 percent. The last time it was higher was May 1975 when it was 11.9 percent.
Industries losing the most jobs in Florida are trade, transportation, and utilities; professional and business services; and construction. These three industries account for more than two-thirds of the job losses in the state.
Healthcare has been Florida’s only growth sector for most of 2009. The annual job growth rate in leisure and hospitality (+1.8 percent) was positive in the Gulf Coast region but declined in the state.
“This unemployment rate indicates that Florida’s families and businesses are still facing challenges, while fewer job losses reveal slight improvement in the economic climate,” said Agency for Workforce Innovation Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo.
The agency continues to enhance customer services to meet record demand. A new feature on the agency’s website, www.floridajobs.org, allows unemployment compensation customers to search online to find out whether they might be eligible to receive benefits under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Tier III program, signed into law by President Obama on Nov. 6. The agency expects to begin making payments under the new program early next month.
