Jacksonville’s unemployment rate rose in January, with the Florida Department of Commerce also releasing revised data showing unemployment was higher in 2023 than previously reported.
The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties rose from a revised 3% in December to 3.3% in January, the department said Jan. 11.
The December unemployment rate was previously reported at 2.9%.
The agency revises the previous year’s data every year with its January report, which is why the January numbers are not announced until March.
The revised data shows unemployment was slightly higher every month in 2023 than first reported.
The monthly jobless rates ranged from a low of 2.8% in February and May to a high of 3.4% in October, according to the revised 2023 data.
All five counties in the metro area increased unemployment in January, with Duval County’s rate rising from 3.1% in December to 3.4%.
St. Johns County had the lowest rate in the area at 3%, with Baker at 3.1%, Nassau at 3.2% and Clay at 3.3%.
The revisions also show Jacksonville’s job growth slowed in January and was lower than originally reported in 2023.
The number of jobs on nonfarm payrolls in the Jacksonville metropolitan area fell from a revised 2.4% growth in December to 1.9% in January.
Before the revision, job growth had been reported at 3.2% in December.
Jacksonville employers added a net total of 14,600 jobs from January 2023 through January 2024.
The largest gains came in private education and health services, which gained 5,800 jobs, a 4.8% growth rate.
The biggest job losses came in the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector which lost 2,400 jobs, or 4.2%, in the 12-month period.
Jacksonville fell below Florida’s statewide job growth rate of 2.7% in the 12 months through January.
The statewide unemployment rate was unchanged in January at a seasonally adjusted 3.1%.
The Department of Commerce does not adjust local area unemployment data for seasonal factors in its monthly reports.