Orlando Continues Long-Standing Lead in Job Growth
The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Orlando area in March were professional and business services with 19,100 new jobs and leisure and hospitality with 10,100 new jobs.
TALLAHASSEE, FL—While still eight away from Joe DiMaggio’s record-setting 56-consecutive game hit streak, the City of Orlando has now reached 48 straight months as the state’s top location for job growth.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Friday that during the month of March Orlando added 45,700 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The unemployment rate in the Orlando area was 3.0%, down 0.3 percentage point from one year ago. The city has now earned the monthly top spot for job growth for four straight years.
The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Orlando area in March were professional and business services with 19,100 new jobs and leisure and hospitality with 10,100 new jobs.
In March, the Orlando area was second among state metro areas in job demand with 49,474 job openings. Orlando also remained the second-highest metro area in demand for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations with 15,212 openings.
Overall, Florida’s private-sector businesses created 208,100 jobs over the past year and 12,600 jobs in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 3.5%. The labor force continued to grow with 158,000 people entering the labor force at an annual growth rate of 1.6%, state officials note.
“Florida’s economy continues to thrive, but we will not rest,” said Gov. DeSantis. “Our state is focused on creating a resilient business-friendly environment, with low taxes, decreased regulation and support for career and technical education to provide opportunities for all Floridians to succeed.”
Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.7% continues to outpace the national job growth rate of 1.9%. Statewide, the top private-sector sectors gaining the most jobs over-the-year were: professional and business services with 50,500 new jobs; education and health services with 40,000 new jobs; leisure and hospitality with 28,900 new jobs; trade, transportation and utilities with 26,300 new jobs; construction with 24,100 new jobs and financial activities with 18,300 new jobs.
Florida job postings showed 286,258 openings in March 2019.
The City of Tampa came in second place among Florida’s major metro areas in the month of March with 31,000 new private-sector jobs in the last year. The Tampa area’s unemployment rate was 3.3%, down 0.2 percentage point from one year ago.
The industry with the highest growth over the year in the Tampa area was professional and business services with 10,900 new jobs.
The Tampa area remained first among the state metro areas in job demand in March with 56,208 openings. The Tampa area also continues to rank first in the state in demand for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations with 18,139 openings in March 2019.
Rounding out the top three for job growth was the City of Miami, which registered 25,400 new private-sector jobs in the last year. The Miami area’s unemployment rate was 3.4%, down 0.9 percentage point from one year ago.
The industry with the highest growth over the year in the Miami area was professional and business services with 8,700 new jobs.
Miami continued to rank third among the state’s metro areas in job demand with 37,035 openings in March, and once again offered the third-highest number of high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs with 9,529 online ads.
Other notable job producing metros included the Jacksonville area, which added 6,200 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.2% in March, down 0.2 percentage point from one year ago. Also, the City of Fort Lauderdale posted 12,900 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The Fort Lauderdale area’s unemployment rate was 3.1% in March, down 0.4 percentage point from one year ago.