Orange, Seminole jobless rate falls to 3.5%

Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent in April, the lowest since September 2007, while the Orlando area continues to lead the state in job creation, according to numbers released Friday.

Although improved, unemployment in Florida was higher than the national rate, at 4.4 percent.

The Orlando area added 42,700 new private-sector jobs in the past 12 months, but most of those jobs — 13,400 — were in the low-paying hospitality and leisure area. That category only pays an average of $26,409 annually, which is just below poverty level for a family of four.

The unemployment rate in Metro Orlando was 3.6 percent, down 0.7 percentage point from one year ago. The jobless rate in Orange County and Seminole County dropped to 3.5 percent, also a 10-year low, and lower than the March rate of 3.8 percent.

Lake County’s unemployment rate was 3.9 percent, down from 4.3 percent in March and down from 4.6 percent a year ago. Osceola County, which usually has the highest unemployment rate in the metro area, saw its rate drop to 4.1 percent in April, down from 4.4 percent in March, and down from 4.8 percent a year ago.

Besides hospitality job growth, the metro area led the state in three other categories: trade, transportation and utilities, 8,800 new jobs at average salary of $38,326; financial activities, 4,800 new jobs, average salary of $62,532; and manufacturing with 1,600 new jobs at average pay of $62,097.

Other areas of job growth in the Orlando area, with salaries, included construction, which added 5,700 jobs at annual pay of $49,008; professional and business services, which added 7,000 jobs with average pay of $53,589; education and health services, 600 new jobs, $49,769; and “other” services, 1,300 new jobs at $33,591.

Statewide, Florida businesses created 15,000 new jobs in April. Gov. Rick Scott used the announcement to caution against cutting incentives or marketing programs.

“Now is not the time to slow down our unrelenting efforts to bring more jobs and opportunities to our state,” he said in a news release. “Businesses and site selectors have taken notice of the Florida Legislature’s decision to turn their backs on … economic development programs like Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida.”

Scott said the attempts to cut programs were “not only disappointing, but could put our future job creation efforts at risk.”

The state announcement said Florida’s unemployment rate has dropped 6.2 percentage points since December 2010, while the national rate has declined by only 4.9 percentage points in the same time period. It also noted that in the last year, 371,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 3.8 percent, while the national laborforce growth was 0.8 percent.

Construction shows no signs of letting up on growth. A recent survey by the Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida said 88 percent of Florida construction firms plan to increase hiring over the next six months and 84 percent anticipate experiencing more difficulty finding appropriately skilled labor.