State Jobless Rate Climbs, Volusia & Flagler Follow Suit

Daytona Beach, FL - The latest findings from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) show an increase in unemployment across the state. The new report, which was released at 10 a.m. on Friday (August 21st), says Florida’s jobless rate for July was 11.3%, which reflects a total of 1,125,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 9,975,000. For comparison, the revised unemployment rate for June of 2020 was 10.3%. And throughout the year so far, 23 out of 24 of Florida’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) had over-the-year job losses. According to the DEO, the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford MSA lost over 117,600, which is down by almost 9% and is the highest calculated loss in the state, followed by the MSA’s of Miami Miami Beach Kendall and Fort Lauderdale Pompano Beach Deerfield Beach. However, despite a jump in jobless claims, Florida’s labor force in July actually grew by 223,000, which is 2.3% above June’s labor force. And while Florida may have lost 1,178,100 jobs between February and April, the state has gained back almost half of the jobs lost according to a release from the DEO. Locally, Volusia and Flagler have also been dealt a blow in unemployment rates. In June, Volusia was found to have an unemployment rate of 9.5%, which accounted for 23,088 unemployed residents, while Flagler had a rate of 9.4%, accounting for 4,277 unemployed workers. Since then, both areas have jumped up about a percent, with Volusia increasing to 10.5% (26,197 unemployed) and Flagler to 10.2% (4,643 unemployed). Nationally, the unemployment rate is 10.2%.