Florida concluded its best year of job growth in six years with an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent in December 2014, the Department of Economic Opportunity said Friday.
Employers added 11,500 jobs last month and 1,300 more in November than it had previously estimated, DEO also said.
The Sunshine’s states December jobless rate was the lowest since April 2008 when it was 5.4 percent.
“Today we are excited to announce that Florida businesses added 11,500 private-sector jobs in December, for a total of 728,500 private-sector jobs created in only four years, and we look forward to seeing even more businesses grow and create jobs for families across the state,” said Gov. Rick Scott.
Compared to December a year ago, the number of jobs in Florida was up by 230,600, an increase of 3.0 percent.
Florida’s job growth is largely in low-wage industries. Among the fastest-growing jobs are food services, leisure and hospitality, home health care and retail – all of which pay relatively little.
