Jacksonville’s unemployment rate was little changed in March, according to data released Friday, but that means the job market remained strong.
The unemployment rate for the Jacksonville metropolitan area — consisting of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties — fell slightly from 4.5 percent in February to 4.4 percent in March, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said.
The state agency does not adjust the data for seasonal factors but the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project (LEIP) reported when the data is seasonally adjusted, it shows a very small increase in the jobless rate last month from 4.48 percent to 4.51 percent.
While jobs did grow in Northeast Florida, they did not grow as much as they normally do in March, so the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched up, UNF economist Paul Mason said.
The Department of Economic Opportunity’s survey of non-farm businesses in the Jacksonville area found that payrolls grew by 4,400 in March and rose by 22,600 from March 2015 through March 2016, a 3.5 percent growth rate.
The job gains were widespread across almost all business sectors. The one exception continues to be the information sector, which lost a net total of 100 jobs in the past year, a 1.1 percent decline.
Jacksonville beat Florida’s statewide job growth rate of 2.9 percent and the national growth rate of 2 percent in the 12-month period.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell slightly from 5 percent in February to 4.9 percent in March, the Department of Economic Opportunity said.
Duval County’s unemployment rate, without seasonal adjustments, fell by 0.1 percentage point to 4.7 percent last month. However, LEIP reported when it is seasonally adjusted, the jobless rate ticked up from 4.84 percent in February to 4.85 percent in March.
Continuing a trend that has been ongoing for the past two years, St. Johns County still has the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state at 3.5 percent last month (unadjusted), trailing only the 3.1 percent rate for Monroe County.