The jobless rate in the Orlando Metro area in May was 9.9 percent, a marginal decline of 0.1 percent from the April 2011 rate of 10.0 percent, the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) reported on Friday.
In the Orlando Metro area (Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties), there were 111,314 unemployed residents in May 2011 out of a labor force of 1.1 million. In April 2011, 111,710 persons were unemployed.
For Orange County alone, the unemployment rate remained at 9.9 percent in May 2011, as it was in April the month before. In Orange County 59,928 persons were unemployed out of a labor force of 604,549.
In Lake County, the jobless rate stood at 10.2 percent in May, the same as it was in April 2011, and 1.2 percent below the 11.4 percent recorded one year ago.
Osceola County posted an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent, down from 10.9 percent in April and the 0.9 percent reported in May 2010. The unemployment rate in Seminole County was 9.4 percent, lower than the 9.5 percent the month before and 0.8 percent one year ago.
Statewide, Florida’s unemployment in May 2011 was 10.6 percent, the lowest since August 2009 when it was also 10.6 percent. This represents 980,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,249,000. The state’s unemployment rate is down 0.2 percentage point from the April 2011 rate of 10.8 percent and is 0.7 percentage point lower than the May 2010 rate of 11.3 percent.
“Our unemployment rate is now the lowest it has been in 21 months, and we can expect our state’s heightened focus on economic recovery to spur additional job growth in the months ahead”, said Agency for Workforce Innovation Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo.
