“ So as long as that ’ s true , I think , yeah , there ’ s not really a concern with a minor increase this month ,” Heckman said .
Florida ’ s jobless rate was 3.2 percent in March after three consecutive months at 3.1 percent . The state ’ s lowest unemployment rate was 2.4 percent in the spring of 2006 .
As the latest figures were released , Gov . Ron DeSantis said in a social-media post that U . S . News & World Report recently ranked Florida as No . 1 in education and the economy .
The national unemployment rate , while higher than Florida ’ s rate , has been under 4 percent since January 2022 .
Florida and Maryland were the only states that saw increased unemployment rates in April , both up 0.1 percentage point .
In April 2023 , Florida had a 2.7 percent unemployment rate . The new report showed that the labor force grew by 148,000 people year over year , while the number of people qualified as unemployed was up by 61,000 .
The new report showed relatively small upticks in employment in most fields , with construction adding 400 jobs in April , manufacturing up 2,300 , a category of education and health services adding 6,300 and leisure and hospitality tacking on 9,200 .
Across Florida , the lowest unemployment rates continued to be posted in South Florida , with the Miami-Fort Lauderdale- West Palm Beach metropolitan area at 2.7 percent , unchanged from March . The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin areas were at 2.9 percent .
The highest rate was in the Homosassa Springs area at 4.9 percent . The next-highest areas were The Villages , at 4.7 percent , and Sebring , 4.6 percent .
The statewide rate is seasonally adjusted , while the metro rates are not adjusted .
The last time the rate was at 3.3 percent was in February 2022 , when the state was coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and an estimated 348,000 Floridians were out of work from a labor force of 10.471 million .
MAY 2024 • DITCHMEN 9