Palmeira Holdings LLC

signs a contract to develop the 111-acre Flea World site in Seminole County.

The unemployment rates in Orange and Seminole counties were among the lowest in the state for January, according to a report released Monday.

St. Johns County had the state’s lowest rate at 3.3 percent, followed by Okaloosa County at 3.5 percent, and Orange, Seminole and Wakulla counties at 3.6 percent each.

As often happens, the OrlandoKissimmee-Sanford metropolitan area led the state for sheer number of jobs added in the January report — 41,300 jobs, up 3.4 percent, followed by Tampa-St. PetersburgClearwater (26,400 jobs, up 2.0 percent), and Jacksonville (19,700 jobs, up 2.9 percent).

In Metro Orlando, the largest source of jobs added came from the lower-paying leisure and hospitality sector, with 11,500 new jobs. The next-largest growth sector came from professional and business services, with 8,900 new jobs; construction, with 6,300 new jobs; and manufacturing, with 3,800 new jobs.

Unemployment was reported at 3.7 percent in Metro Orlando, up from 3.3 percent in December and down from 4.5 percent a year before.

Following are Central Florida counties’ unemployment rates for January, which were not yet adjusted for fluctuations in seasonal employment, such as holiday hiring:

Lake: 4 percent, up from 3.5 percent in December and down from 4.9 percent a year earlier.

Orange: 3.6 percent, up from 3.2 percent in December and down from 4.3 percent a year earlier.

Osceola: 4.2 percent, up from 3.7 percent in December and down from 5 percent a year earlier.

Seminole: 3.6 percent, up from 3.1 percent in December and down from 4.3 percent a year earlier.

The statewide rate in January was 3.9 percent, unchanged from the December rate but down 0.7 of a percentage point from a year ago, with those numbers seasonally adjusted. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in January, also seasonally adjusted.

The number of jobs in Florida was 8,670,500 in January 2018, up by 150,900 jobs compared with a year ago.

Statewide, the industry gaining the most jobs was professional and business services with 36,000, up 2.7 percent. Next for statewide growth was leisure and hospitality (32,400 jobs, up 2.7 percent), followed by construction (28,600 jobs, up 5.8 percent).