Florida’s labor force has increased by around 579,000 through 2021. This represents a 5.8% increase over the twelve months. This number is significantly higher than national rate of 0.5%. The figures are gathered by U.S. Labor Department and Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Adding 1 of 4 New Jobs Countrywide

The data further reveals that Florida have witnessed 12 consecutive months of labor force growth. Whereas, the month of October marked 18 consecutive months of private-sector job growth. During November 2021, Florida alone added 51,000 out of 210,000 new jobs created across United States. This means that Florida added one out of every four jobs added across United States during November. Florida comprises 6% of the total population of United States. However, it added almost 25% of the total jobs last month which is incredible. Florida’s economy gained 84,500 jobs in the month of September, including nearly 73,000 private-sector jobs, according to the Florida DEO.

Swift Employment Recovery

Job growth in Florida will outpace the national economy and unemployment will continue to decline in 2022. This is according to a new economic forecast for the Sunshine State. Florida’s unemployment rate currently stands at 4.5% during November and is expected to reduce during 2022 as well. The state’s job market is have recovered around 90% from pre-pandemic level and economists are optimistic that a full recovery is not far off.

“We’re a massive country. Over 330 million people. Two hundred thousand jobs, you know, that’s not a lot for the whole country, and of that, for Florida to be over 50,000, you know, it just shows that the policies matter,” DeSantis said in a press conference Friday morning.

Workers Shortage Challenge

Like rest of the country, employers in Florida are facing the challenge of lack of workers. There are plenty of job opportunities but not enough workers to fill those vacant positions. Sectors like leisure and hospitality are still have a long way to go to reach pre-pandemic employment levels. However, sectors like trade and transportation, construction, finance and professional and business services have already exceeded pre-pandemic job numbers.

Florida’s unemployment rate dropped by a tenth of a percent down to 4.5%. Yet it is slightly higher than the national average of 4.2%. Currently there are 483,000 Floridians classified as unemployed.

Browse for job opportunities in Florida

Keep up with the latest employment news across US at News