Governor Rick Scott announced August 18 that Florida businesses have created 1,422,700 private sector jobs since 2010. Around 3,100 of those positions came from the Pensacola area over the past year.
“Over the last year, more than 3,000 jobs were created for Pensacola families, which is great news. Our commitment to keeping taxes low has played a major role in turning around our economy and we will continue to fight to cut additional taxes and keep taxes low for generations to come,” Governor Scott said.
Locally the unemployment rate is at 4.3 percent — down 0.8 percentage point from a year ago. Statewide, the unemployment rate remains at the lowest rate since July 2007, 4.1 percent.
Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “Florida’s unemployment rate has been consistently low. I am proud that in the last year, so many Floridians have achieved financial stability through new job opportunities. This shows that the Sunshine State’s economy is stronger than ever and Floridians are able to find a good job, start a business or grow their career in this great state.”
The industries with the highest growth over the year in Pensacola were leisure and hospitality with 1,500 new jobs and professional and business services with 1,000 new jobs. The Pensacola area had 5,195 job openings in July, including 1,712 openings for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.
“Over the past six and a half years, we have worked relentlessly to cut taxes, reduce burdensome regulations and completely turn around Florida’s economy. Our goal was to create 700,000 jobs in seven years and while we were proud to reach that ambitious goal three years early, we did not slow down. I am proud to announce today that after cutting taxes more than 75 times, Florida businesses have created more than 1.4 million new jobs, officially doubling our promise to create 700,000 jobs in seven years,” Governor Scott said.
For the 64th consecutive month, Florida’s annual job growth rate of 2.9 percent is exceeding the nation’s rate of 1.7 percent. As of July, Florida’s unemployment rate had dropped 6.6 percentage points since December 2010, while the national rate declined by only 5 percentage points in the same time period. In the last year, 296,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 3 percent, almost four times the national labor force growth rate of only 0.8 percent.
Other positive economic indicators include:
* Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over-the-year were:
* Construction with 35,800 new jobs;
* Education and health services with 35,600 new jobs;
* Professional and business services with 35,400 new jobs;
* Leisure and hospitality with 32,900 new jobs; and
* Trade, transportation and utilities with 30,600 new jobs.
* Florida job postings showed 240,443 openings in July 2017.
“While our efforts to cut taxes have helped save Floridians and job creators more than $7 billion, we must make sure our progress is not undone. That is why, during the upcoming legislative session, I will fight to give voters the opportunity to amend the Florida Constitution to require a supermajority vote by future state legislatures to raise any taxes or fees. Together, we can make sure future generations are not burdened with unfair taxes and that our state remains a national leader in job creation and opportunity.”
