Jacksonville’s unemployment rate fell in December for the fifth straight month as people re-entered the labor force and were able to find jobs.
The jobless rate for the Jacksonville metropolitan area — consisting of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties — fell from 4.7 percent in November to 4.5 percent in December, The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday.
Unemployment fell despite an increase of about 3,500 people in the total labor force in December, reversing a trend of declining labor force numbers in recent months.
When people are not actively looking for work, they are considered to be out of the labor force and are not counted as unemployed.
An increase in the labor force is a positive sign for the local economy because it suggests that previously discouraged people are gaining confidence they will be able to find jobs.
However, an increase in December employment is a normal seasonal trend, as businesses bulk up their staffs for the holidays.
The Department of Economic Opportunity does not adjust its local market data for seasonal factors like that but according to the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project, when the data is seasonally-adjusted, it shows the Jacksonville area unemployment rate was basically unchanged last month at 4.76 percent.
Duval County’s unemployment rate fell from 5 percent in November to 4.8 percent in December, according to the state agency’s unadjusted data. When the data is seasonally-adjusted, it shows a sharp drop in the rate from 5.31 percent to 4.64 percent, according to LEIP.
St. Johns County’s unadjusted unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.5 percent last month, according to state data, but that still left it with the second-lowest jobless rate in the state behind Monroe County’s 3.2 percent.
Florida’s statewide unemployment rate fell by 0.1-point to a seasonally-adjusted 5 percent in December, the Department of Economic Opportunity said.
The department’s survey of business payrolls shows the Jacksonville area added a net total of 17,300 non-farm jobs from December 2014 through December 2015, a 2.7 percent growth rate.
Most of the gains came from the service sector of the economy but construction industry employment fell by 2.4 percent in the 12-month period.
The biggest job gains came in the administrative and waste services sector, which grew by 9.4 percent.
Jacksonville lagged behind Florida’s statewide job growth rate of 2.9 percent over the 12 months.