TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - Florida's unemployment rate held steady from July to August, at the 12-year-low mark of 3.7 percent.
That's according to numbers released Friday by the State Department of Economic Opportunity.
The August estimate represents 375,000 Floridians considered out of work from a workforce of $10.2 million.
The mark keeps the state below the national rate of 3.9 percent.
Florida ranked third among states during the past year in overall job creation, trailing only Texas and California.
The state created 20,000 private-sector jobs over the past month.
"We have a really strong economy right now. If somebody wants to find a job, they are able to find a job," said Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Department of Economic Opportunity. "We see also that people are leaving one job to find a better job. They are able to make those decisions right now, because there are so many jobs out there."
Many of Florida's new jobs are tied to the leisure and hospitality industry, along with positions in construction, education and health services.
Across Florida, the Fort Walton Beach-Destin metropolitan area continues to hold the lowest regional unemployment rate at 2.9 percent, followed by Panama City, Gainesville and Orlando.
