Jacksonville’s unemployment rate continued dropping in November, staying below 5 percent for the second straight month.
The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan statistical area (MSA) — consisting of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties — fell from 4.9 percent in October to 4.7 percent in November, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday.
October was the first time unemployment had been lower than 5 percent since April 2008.
The state agency does not adjust local market data for seasonal factors but when the Jacksonville area data is seasonally adjusted, it shows the unemployment rate fell from 5.07 percent in October to 4.78 percent in November, the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project (LEIP) reported.
Although it’s encouraging to see unemployment falling, UNF economist Paul Mason cautioned the news is not all good. While the number of unemployed people in the Jacksonville area declined, the number of people in the labor force fell by about 2,900 to about 713,000.
When people who want to work become discouraged and stop actively looking for a job, they are considered to be out of the labor force and are not counted as unemployed.
“The fact that we’re now solidly under 5 percent for the MSA is good,” Mason said.
“But again, it’s indicative of what’s going on at the national level,” he said, referring to the drop in the size of the labor force.
“That’s not a positive. It’s productive capacity that is not working,” Mason said.
Duval County’s unemployment rate fell from 5.3 percent in October to 5 percent last month, without seasonal adjustment, the Department of Economic Opportunity said. When it is seasonally adjusted, the rate fell from 5.45 percent to 5.31 percent, according to LEIP.
Continuing a trend that’s been going on for months, St. Johns County again had the second-lowest jobless rate in the state at 3.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted) in November, down from 3.7 percent. Only Monroe County, at 3.3 percent, was lower.
Florida’s statewide unemployment rate fell by 0.2 points to a seasonally adjusted 5 percent, the Department of Economic Opportunity said.
While Jacksonville’s unemployment rate was lower than the rest of the state, the area’s job growth is lagging behind Florida’s overall rate.
The number of non-farm jobs on business payrolls in the Jacksonville area rose by 16,300 from November 2014 through November 2015, a 2.6 percent growth rate. Total jobs in Florida grew by 3 percent in the 12-month period, the Department of Economic Opportunity reported.
Most industry sectors are growing in the Jacksonville area. The exceptions are the professional and technical services sector, down 6.8 percent over the past year, and the information sector, down 3.3 percent.
The highest growth in the Jacksonville area has come from leisure and hospitality, up 6.2 percent.