workforce statistics and economic research , said in a conference call .
Jobs in professional and business services and in the education and health sectors are projected to grow by 6.9 percent in the two-year outlook . Construction jobs are forecast to increase by 4.5 percent , with manufacturing jobs up 4.1 percent .
The February unemployment rate was down from 3.3 percent a year earlier , with the labor force growing by 247,000 and the number of people out-of-work reduced by 66,000 .
Florida ’ s non-agricultural employment was up by 427,400 workers over the year , trailing only Texas at 611,400 and California , 486,500 .
Gov ,. Ron DeSantis ’ office issued a news release that said Florida ’ s 2.3 percent growth rate over the past year was faster than the national rate of 1.5 percent .
“ Florida ’ s economy continues to be number one in new business formations while growing our labor force and creating jobs faster than the national rate ,” DeSantis said in a statement . positions in February , with the sector up by 104,700 jobs from February 2022 .
Retail jobs also had a big gain in February , up 13,100 from January .
Meanwhile , manufacturing jobs fell by 2,000 in February , while increasing by 16,700 since February 2022 .
Construction jobs were up 500 in February and by 19,700 from February 2022 .
Among regional totals , the February unemployment rate in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area was 2.2 percent , the lowest in the state .
The rate was 2.5 percent in the Jacksonville and Tampa-St . Petersburg regions and 2.6 percent in the Orlando and Pensacola areas .
The highest rates were in The Villages , Sebring and Homosassa Springs regions , each at 3.8 percent .
The U . S . Department of Labor reported this month the national unemployment rate ticked up from 3.4 percent in January to an estimated 3.6 percent in February . The national increase was due , at least in part , to nearly 500,000 people rejoining the labor force .
Driven by lodging and food-service jobs , Florida added 10,700 leisure and hospitality
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