Unemployment rate dips in Dec.

Florida’s jobless rate dipped to 4.4% in December as state officials pointed to steady growth in workers getting jobs.

The Department of Economic Opportunity on Friday revealed the December rate, down from 4.5% in November. The metro Orlando rate was 3.8%, down from 4% a month earlier.

The December rate represented 466,000 Floridians qualifying as jobless from a workforce now at 10.66 million

The new unemployment figures show the state had regained 92.1% of the 1.27 million jobs lost in the early stages of the pandemic from February 2020 through April 2020.

“What I would consider here is that we are seeing steady growth,” Adrienne Johnston, the Department of Economic Opportunity’s chief economist, told reporters in a conference call. “We saw fast gains early on. And now we’re going to continue to see steady increases in employment. So, this is more like the trend was prior to the pandemic. And to me, that’s a healthy sign of a growing economy.”

Johnston said that with businesses continuing to add to their payrolls and with growth in high-wage industries, “that is a strong picture for 2021 and I think sets us up really well for a strong 2022.”

Florida’s unemployment rate was higher than the national mark of 3.9% announced on Jan. 7.

State officials continue to hear complaints from businesses and government agencies about having difficulty finding workers. The U.S. Department of Labor reported Jan. 4 that Americans have been quitting jobs at a record pace as job openings approach record highs.

Johnston said the number of people leaving jobs in Florida has increased for nine consecutive months.

“This indicates that individuals are more optimistic about their ability to find work if they leave their current job,” Johnston said.

Leisure and hospitality fields, which took the biggest hit from the pandemic, posted the largest number of new jobs, 142,600, in the past year.