Florida has managed to maintain a steady unemployment rate for the past seven consecutive months, remaining at 3.3 percent, despite being hit by two hurricanes within a two-week interval. This figure has been constant since April of this year. In comparison to October 2023, Florida added 107,600 private sector jobs year-over-year as of this October. The leader of Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis, along with his team, took immediate action in providing recovery resources for small businesses in impacted areas which totalled more than $52 million.

New unemployment claims spiked to 9,000 after Hurricane Helene hit the Big Bend area on Sept. 26. The claims increased further to more than 10,000 for the week ending Oct. 19, following the impact of Hurricane Milton on the Gulf Coast on Oct. 9. It took until the week ending on Nov. 2 for initial jobless claims to revert to regular levels.

Various regions witnessed a hike in October’s unemployment rate, with the Tampa area holding the state’s highest monthly unemployment rate of 3.8 percent. Tampa’s labor force decreased by 1.4 percent, which corresponds to 24,260 workers. The regions of Southwest Florida and Naples also saw a rise in their jobless rate in October, going up to 3.5 percent, a 0.3-point increase from the preceding year. Fort Myers witnessed a climb in jobless claims for October to 3.6 percent, a slight 0.2-point increase over October 2023. Lastly, Miami held the state’s lowest unemployment rate for October, charting at 2.2 percent, a slight rise from the 2023 rate of 1.7 percent. For 48 consecutive months, the state’s unemployment figure has been lower than the national rate which has remained at 4.1 percent for the last two months.

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