Gov. Scott: Miami Metro Area Sees Job Growth and a Declining Unemployment Rate

Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall metro area's unemployment rate has declined to 8.4 percent in July 2013, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points over the year and down 0.6 percentage points in a month. The Miami metro area was also among the top six metro areas in the state for total nonagricultural job growth in July 2013, gaining 9,500 jobs over the year.

Governor Rick Scott said, "This is great news for families in the Miami area. A falling unemployment rate coupled with new job growth means families are getting back to work in the Miami community."

With more than 9,500 new jobs in July 2013, the Miami metro area has experienced 37 consecutive months of positive over the year job growth. The area was also one of seven metro areas in the state to gain jobs in the manufacturing industry over the year.

The Miami metro area had the third-highest online job demand in Florida in July 2013 (31,859 openings) and had the third-highest number of openings for STEM occupations in July 2013 with 6,489 online ads. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and these jobs are considered high wage and high skill. Housing starts were up by 10.3 percent over the year in the Miami metro area in June 2013.

In July, the South Florida Workforce Investment Board along with the state's other 23 Regional Workforce Boards reported more than 38,800 Floridians were placed in jobs. This represents an increase of more than 13,300 placements over the year from July 2012, a 52 percent increase. An individual who receives employment and training assistance through a One-Stop Career Center and finds a job within 180 days is deemed a placement and may be reported by a regional workforce board. Of these individuals, 10,902 previously received Reemployment Assistance.

With the addition of 35,400 private sector jobs over the month, Florida has experienced positive annual job growth now for 36 consecutive months. This adds up to 369,100 new private sector jobs created in Florida since December 2010.

Since Governor Scott took office, Florida's statewide unemployment rate has dropped four percentage points, from a rate of 11.1 percent to July's rate of 7.1 percent. In the same timeframe, the national unemployment rate has dropped 1.9 percentage points, demonstrating Florida's improving economic climate continues to outpace the national recovery. Florida's unemployment rate has now declined year-over-year for 33 consecutive months.

To view the July 2013 monthly employment data, visit:

www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

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