TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Florida's unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points in October as the state continued to recover from Hurricane Irma.
The estimated jobless mark, released Friday by the state Department of Economic Opportunity stood at 3.6 percent out of a workforce of 10.1 million.
Employment grew by 18,000, while people out of work fell by 16,000. Hurricane Irma made landfall Sept. 10 in Monroe and Collier counties before traveling up the state. “While Hurricane Irma was a devastating storm, we have worked day after day to help communities recover and send a message across the world that Florida is open for business,” Gov. Rick Scott said in a prepared statement Friday.
The Department of Economic Opportunity said Florida's seasonally adjusted non-agricultural employment for October represented an increase of 125,300 jobs from September, while the state has gained 197,500 jobs over the year.
The state jobless mark is lower than the national rate of 4.1 percent. Monroe County, which before Irma held the lowest unemployment rate for the state, improved from 3.6 percent in September to 3.2 percent in October.
For the second consecutive month, Okaloosa and St. Johns counties had the lowest jobless rates, both at 2.7 percent. Both were at 2.8 percent in September.
Eleven other counties had rates between 2.8 percent and 3.1 percent.
Two inland agriculture-dependent counties hit hard by Irma, Hendry and Hardee, held the highest unemployment marks in October, 7.3 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively.
The numbers for individual counties are not seasonally adjusted.
