Florida's unemployment stands at 5 percent

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Florida's unemployment rate stood at 5 percent as 2015 came to a close. The December number is down from a revised 5.1 percent in November, according to figures released Friday by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

The state had initially listed the November mark at 5 percent, which is where the national figure has been for two consecutive months. Gov. Rick Scott, who attended a dedication ceremony Friday in Estero for the corporate headquarters of Hertz, pointed in a news release to the state recording 21,000 new private-sector jobs in December.

The release also heavily focused on Scott's continued push for $1 billion in business-friendly tax cuts and for $250 million in business-recruitment incentives. Florida's preliminary December numbers indicate an estimated 487,000 Floridians were out of work from a seasonally adjusted labor force of 9.67 million.

A year ago, when the state's unemployment mark was at 5.7 percent, there were 67,000 more people classified as out of work.

Across the state, the lowest unemployment marks were found in Monroe County (3.2 percent, down from 3.3 percent in November) and St. Johns County (3.5 percent, down from 3.6 percent). The highest rate continues to be held by rural Hendry County on the southwest side of Lake Okeechobee, where the rate fell from 8.3 percent in November to 7.3 percent in December. The next highest jobless marks were found in Citrus County, 6.6 percent, Putnam County, 6.4 percent, and Sumter and Highlands counties, at 6.3 percent.