The jobless rate in the Orlando Metro area in July was 10.4 percent, unchanged from the June 2011 rate, the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) reported on Friday.
In the Orlando Metro area (Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties) there were 118,474 unemployed residents in July 2011 out of a labor force of 1.1 million. In June 2011, 117,679 persons were unemployed.
For Orange County alone, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 10.5 percent from 10.4 percent in June, the month before. In Orange county, 64,161 persons were unemployed out of a labor force of 613,290.
In Lake County, the jobless rate stood at 10.6 percent in July, down from 10.7 percent in June 2011 and 1.3 percent below the 11.9 percent recorded one year ago.
Osceola County posted an unemployment rate of 11.2 percent, slightly up from 11.1 percent in June 2011. In July 2010, the jobless rate in Osceola County was 12.5 percent.
Seminole County recorded an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent in July, down 0.2 percent from 9.9 percent in the month of June and 1.4 percent below the 11.1 percent in July 2010.
Statewide, Florida’s unemployment rate in July was 10.7 percent, unchanged from the month before, but 0.1 percent higher than the 10.6 percent reported in May. This represents 987,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,220,000.
Although Florida’s jobless rate in July 2011 is 0.8 percentage points below the 11.5 percent one year ago, it is well above the U.S. unemployment rate of 9.1 percent.
“Mixed signals from economic indicators during recovery are common,” said AWI Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo. “Fluctuations in rates of unemployment and job growth are typical examples of starts and stops while the economy rebounds and unemployed workers who may have given up looking for work rejoin the workforce.”
Gov. Rick Scott, who slashed thousands of jobs from state government, has set a goal of creating 700,000 jobs over seven years. According to AWI, Florida gained 64,300 jobs from January to July 2011.
