Florida unemployment rate down to 11.1 percent

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Gov. Rick Scott announced that Florida's monthly unemployment rate for March 2011 is 11.1 percent. That's the lowest it's been since November 2009.

The new number came out Friday morning.

The state's unemployment rate hovered around 12 percent throughout 2010. It began showing signs of improvement during the first two months of this year, dropping to 11.5 percent in February.

The state added 22,700 jobs in February, but nearly 1.1 million Floridians still were out of work.

As he campaigned for governor last year, Scott promised to create 700,000 jobs in seven years.

The dropping unemployment rate was reflected in South Florida. Palm Beach and Broward Counties as well as the Treasure Coast saw decreases in unemployment.

 However St. Lucie and Indian River still have among the highest rates of unemployment in the state.