Sunshine Sentinel

Central Florida continues to show signs that its economy is bouncing back, with a robust market that continues to grow.

The unemployment rate in the state was 5% in June in comparison to the national average across the country of 5.4% in July.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken a number of actions to try and get the state's economy on the road to a strong recovery, including opting out of federal UI benefits and reinstating the work-search requirement, Sunshine Sentinel reported. Florida has seen more jobs added in recent months.

Florida JobLink Director Stephanie Sims said she has seen an increase in job fairs in the area, along with additional benefits for prospective employees.  

“Many employers are offering all kinds of bonuses, and they are relaxing requirements for college degrees and mandatory experience,” she said, ABC 7 reported.

Central Florida is starting to see the ramifications of DeSantis’ decision as plenty of businesses are currently hiring, according to Bay News 9.

The grocery chain Kroger, which recently opened in the area, has reported employing 400 hundred associates with a plan to hire an additional 300 employees by year's end, Bay News 9 reported.

“We’ve actually really ramped up our hiring because, thankfully, we’ve been really accepted in this community already and a lot of excitement is behind us," Brandon McBurney, General Manager for the Kroger Fulfillment Network, said.

Senior Director of Business Intelligence for CareerSource Central Florida Nilda Blanco said it’s an employee market with prospective job seekers having their pick of jobs but increased wages as well.

“I think right now, there are great opportunities in the region and definitely looking at great paying jobs,” she said, Bay News 9 reported.

The construction, information technology, education and health care sectors are in urgent need of employees, along with the hospitality and tourism industry, she said.

“Now you can order food, you can order your groceries, you can order delivery almost of everything to your home, and so there is a real demand in logistics and transportation, truck drivers, warehouse workers (and) sorters,” Blanco said.