The Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) announced today the the unemployment rate in Florida hit 11% in September 2009, up from 4.3 percent a year ago and some 0.2 percent higher that the revised August rate of 10.8 percent.
This means that, Out of a labor force of just over 9 million people, a little over one million Floridian are unemployed.
The last time the jobless rate was as high was thirty-four years ago.
“We remain committed to serving unemployed workers and providing them with job placement and training
services to support rapid reemployment and help reinvigorate the economy,” said Agency for Workforce
Innovation Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo. “The recovery is coming slowly, but it is coming, ” Lorenzo said.
There is a ray of hope in that the Florida economy is begining to stabilize. One indication of this is the reduction of Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notices. WARN notices received by the agency decreased over the past several months from it peak of 36 WARN notices in March 2009 to seven noticed received in September.
Meanwhile, AWI announced that it remains committed to ensuring that persons have ready access to the full range of programs and services available through Florida’s workforce system.
Florida’s workforce system provides critical programs and services to job seekers and businesses alike. These include the Florida Marketplace Online Job Bank and One-Stop Career Centers.
For more information on job training opportunities and access to job placement services, visit:
(www.floridajobs.org/onestop/onestopdir/index.htm)
