ORLANDO, FL—Florida Gov. Rick Scott reports that 12,500 private-sector jobs were created in March statewide and more than 167,000 positions in the past year.

Speaking at VOXX International's manufacturing complex here, the governor also noted that the state created more than 1.5 million private sector jobs since December 2010. VOXX International moved its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to Orlando in 2015.

As of March, Florida's unemployment rate remained at 3.9%, a drop of 6.9 percentage points since December 2010. That decline was at a faster rate than the national average employment rate decline of 5.2 percentage points. In the past year, 132,000 people entered Florida's labor force, a growth of 1.3%, which is greater than the national labor force growth rate of 1.0%, he noted.

“If you cut taxes, eliminate burdensome regulation and invest in the priorities that matter most to families, like education, job creators respond by growing and creating jobs,” Gov. Scott said. “Congratulations to every business who has chosen Florida as the best place to create jobs.”

Florida's annual job growth rate of 2.3% also continues to exceed the nation's rate of 1.8%. Florida's annual job growth rate has outpaced the nation for 71 of the past 72 months, according to state officials. The only month in which Florida did not exceed the national average was the result of impacts suffered from Hurricane Irma.

Other positive economic data for the state of Florida included news that since December 201, a total of 31,800 jobs have been added in the professional and business services sectors; 32,300 new jobs in leisure and hospitality; another 31,600 jobs new jobs in the construction trades; 21,200 jobs in education and health services and 15,600 jobs in the financial sector.

In terms of high growth markets, the Orlando area remains the leader. According to the governor, March 2018 marked 36 consecutive months the Orlando area led job creation in the state, adding 42,000 private-sector jobs in the past year.

The Tampa Bay area added 28,200 new private-sector jobs in the past year, ranking it the second highest in terms of new job creations in the state. Coming in at number three was the Jacksonville area, which added 21,000 new private sector jobs during that period and the City of Miami came in fourth with 13,800 new private sector jobs created from March 2017-March 2018.

Rounding out the top five was the Fort Lauderdale area, which added 11,100 new private-sector jobs during that 12-month period ended March 2018.

Instant Insights /

Gov. Scott Touts Florida's Impressive Job Numbers

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