The unemployment rate in the Orlando metro ((Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole) area declined marginally to 9.5 percent in January, 0.1 percent down from the 9.6 percent posted in the previous month, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced Tuesday.
Of the four counties, Orange recorded a jobless rate of 9.4 percent, slightly less than the 9.5 percent in December 2011.
Seminole County posted the lowest unemployment rate in the Orlando metro area at 8.8 percent in January 2012.
The jobless rate is highest in Osceola County at 10.7 percent. In Lake County the unemployment rate is currently 10.2 percent.
Statewide, Florida’s unemployment was 9.6 percent in January 2012, down by 0.3 percent from December when it stood at 9.9 percent. But also noteworthy, while the unemployment rate dropped, so did the number of employed people in the state. There was a decline of more than 38,000, or 0.5 percent, from 7.33 million to 7.29 million, resulting in a smaller labor force.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in January 2012.
