Jobless rate falls in Florida, Palm Beach County

By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Stop the presses. Florida’s jobless rate fell in August. The jobless rate in Palm Beach County also fell, according to Florida’s Agency for Workforce Innovation.

The decline wasn’t much, and statisticians might call it insignificant: the statewide rate dropped to 10.7 percent in August from 10.8 in July, while Palm Beach County’s rate fell to 11.3 from 11.4 a month earlier.

But it was the first time in ages that unemployment actually fell.

“We can see that the deterioration in the job market has moderated over the last month,” said Rebecca Rust, chief economist for the agency, which released its montly jobs report Friday.

Still, Florida lost 21,500 jobs in August and 372,000 over the 12 months through August.

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