Sunshine Sentinel

Florida’s economy continues to show signs of improvement as the state records an additional .01% decrease in unemployment in September, down from 5% to 4.9%.

"Except for leisure and hospitality, all private sector industries have recovered at least 80% of jobs compared to their February 2020 employment numbers," Florida Department of Economic Opportunity chief economist Johnston told WUSF.

Recent findings reported by the Florida DEO indicated the state’s growth from August to September was three times greater than the national rate. With the workforce also increasing by 50,000, Florida ranks 29th among states with the lowest unemployment rate, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

A recent decision made by the governor to withdraw from federal unemployment insurance bonuses prompted more than 400,000 Floridian residents to secure a job within three weeks after the policy change, driving a 40% increase in the workforce, a recent Orlando Sentinel op-ed by Tarren Bragdon stated. Bragdon is the CEO and president of the Foundation for Government Accountability.

“While the entire nation gained 194,000 jobs in September, Florida gained 84,500 jobs in the same month – we are outpacing the nation in job growth and job opportunities because businesses know that Florida will stand up for them,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a release. 

An op-ed article published earlier this year by Bloomberg highlighted DeSantis’ strategy to keep businesses open and shutdowns as short as possible. 

“DeSantis has insisted on keeping the state open for business even as other states locked down for months at a time,” writer Joe Nocera noted. He also credits the growth to the establishment or large companies, such as Spotify.

During the summer, Florida experienced some of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the nation. 

“Despite tremendous national headwinds and economic uncertainty, Florida has reached a level of job growth only seen on four other occasions in the past 30 years,” DeSantis said in a DEO press release. “We will continue to work hard to keep Florida open, free and built for opportunity.”