TALLLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.5% last month, the second lowest rate in the state’s recorded history and the lowest rate since October 2006, officials announced Friday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a statement that Florida also had the second fastest Gross Domestic Product growth in the U.S., growing at an annual rate of 1.6% in the second quarter of 2022 while the national GDP has declined for two consecutive quarters.
“Florida’s economy continues to outpace the national average,” DeSantis said. “Floridians are finding jobs, and our state’s businesses are thriving.”
Between September 2021 and September 2022, Florida’s labor force grew by 316,000, or 3%, officials said. For that same time period, total private sector employment grew by 461,500 jobs, or 5.8%. Officials said that's faster than the national private sector job growth rate of 4.4% over the year.
As of last month, Florida employers had added jobs for 29 consecutive months since May 2020.
