Miami Added 18,800 Jobs Last Year: Governor

MIAMI, Fla. — The Miami area added 18,800 new private-sector jobs in the last year, the third-highest number of jobs among all Florida metro areas. The unemployment rate in Miami was 4.7 percent in February, down 0.1 percentage point from a year ago. Statewide, Florida businesses created more than 25,000 new jobs in February bringing the total number of new private-sector jobs created in Florida to nearly 1.5 million since December 2010.

“The Miami area created nearly 19,000 new jobs in the last year, which is great news for South Florida families," according to Scott. "Additionally, businesses across the state created more than 25,000 new jobs in the last month alone, and we will continue to do all we can to secure Florida’s future as the best place for economic growth.”

The highest growth occurred in the category of professional and business services with 5,800 new jobs and education and health services with 4,900 new jobs.

The Miami area continued to rank third among the state’s metro areas in job demand with 32,167 openings in February, and once again offered the third-highest number of high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs with 7,443 online ads, according to the governor's office.

As of February, Florida’s unemployment rate was 3.9 percent, a drop of 6.9 percentage points since December 2010.

State officials said that unemployment is dropping faster in Florida than the national average of 5.2 percent.

In the last year, 136,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, which represents a 1.4 percent growth rate. Nationally, the growth rate stands at 1.2 percent.

Photo courtesy state of Florida