[1]The unemployment rate in Florida for July remained unchanged from the previous month at 6.2 percent despite losing 1,600 jobs from the payrolls, according to a report recently released by the Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group [2].
July's job losses in Florida followed a gain of 34,900 in June. Despite the jobs lost in July, Florida's nonfarm payrolls saw a year-over-year increase of 2.9 percent, well above the national average of 1.9 percent, according to the Wells Fargo report.
Florida felt the biggest job losses in July in the areas of local government (-4000), wholesale trade (-3,600), and manufacturing (-2900). The biggest job gain came in the construction industry at +4,400, a significant increase of 10.9 percent from July 2013. The report said the spike in construction jobs available in Florida in July can be attributed to a large number of major construction or civil engineering projects, such as airport expansion, theme park additions, and high-rise condominiums.
Another area where Florida saw job gains was in tourism, which saw 2,200 jobs added – a 3.7 increase from July 2013, according to Wells Fargo. The addition of a new Harry Potter park at Universal Studios contributed to employment gains in the entertainment and arts industries, according to the report.
Tourism and arts are not the only areas where Florida saw increases for July, however. The state also experienced year-over-year gains in professional and business services (3.4 percent) even though the number declined from June. Also according to the report, Florida saw significant year-over-year increases in employment for the two relatively high-paying occupations, the architectural and engineering industries (8.6 percent) and the computer systems design industry and related occupations (6.5 percent).
The Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group obtained its employment data from the U.S. Department of Labor for the July report.