Gov. Scott: Southwest Florida added 5,000-plus new jobs in February
Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday that the Southwest Florida area added 5,100 new private-sector jobs over the year in February. The Fort Myers area created 4,200 new jobs and the area’s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent.
The Naples area added 900 new jobs and the area’s unemployment rate was 4.5 percent.
In the last year, Florida businesses created 239,800 new jobs, bringing the total number of new jobs added since December 2010 to 1,346,200, according to a prepared statement from the Governor’s Office.
“I am proud to announce that Southwest Florida businesses created more than 5,000 new jobs in the last year,” Scott said in a prepared statement. “We will keep fighting to make important investments in economic development tools so every Floridian who wants a job can find one.”
The industries with the most job growth in the Fort Myers?Cape Coral metro over the year were education and health services and leisure and hospitality, both with 1,200 new jobs, and professional and business services with 1,100 new jobs. In February, the Fort Myers area had 7,180 job openings, including 1,129 high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations, the release states.
The industry with the most job growth in the Naples metro over the year was construction with 1,300 new jobs. In February, the Naples area had 3,762 job openings, including 646 for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations, according to the release.
Statewide, Florida businesses created 53,800 new private-sector jobs so far in 2017 and the unemployment rate was 5 percent. For the 59th consecutive month, Florida’s annual job growth rate of 3.3 percent is also exceeding the nation’s rate of 1.8 percent. More than 29,500 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Southwest Florida and the state’s other 23 regional workforce boards.
To view the February 2017 employment data visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases .
Source: Office of Gov. Rick Scott