South Florida Unemployment Rises Slightly in June

This is the first downtick in the last several months. It is nothing of concern since the way up is never a straight line. In the month of June the South Florida Unemployment rate actually increased. It is still far better than what it was a year ago.

South Florida’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent in June, but is significantly lower than the 9.1 percent rate a year ago.

Florida’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained unchanged, at 7.1 percent, in June, down 1.7 percentage points from 8.8 percent a year ago. The state’s May and June rates were the lowest since September 2008, when it was at 7 percent, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Nonagricultural employment reached 7.5 million in Florida last month, an increase of 9,300 jobs from May.

Florida jobless rate was less than the nation’s 7.6 percent unemployment rate.

The employed workforce in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties lost 22,058 jobs from May to June, according to state data. The labor force also shrank to 2.95 million people from 2.97 million. During the last 12 months, the region added 33,935 jobs overall, and decreased its unemployment rate by 1.5 percentage points.

Miami-Dade lost 16,285 jobs in June, while its non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points, month-over-month, to 9 percent. That number is 1.1 percentage points lower than the jobless rate one year ago. The county’s labor force also lost 14,715 workers in June.

Broward’s unemployment rate increased 0.3 percentage points, to 6.1 percent, in June. That number is significantly less than what it was a year ago, at 7.8 percent. The county lost 1,757 jobs from May to June, while its labor force grew by 1,228 workers.

Palm Beach also saw a month-over-month increase in its jobless rate – to 7.5 percent in June from 7 percent in May – but was down from last year’s 9.2 percent. The county lost 4,016 jobs between May and June, according to state data. The county’s labor force lost 1,022 workers in June.

 

These ups and downs are to be expected. What is important is to look at the overall trend. As every other business here in South Florida we hope this is not the beginning of a downward trend but just the natural process of that upward trend that we have been enjoying for the past few months.