Jobless rate dips in Palm Beach County

By Palm Beach Business.com Staff

DELRAY BEACH — For the first time in three years, statewide unemployment has actually declined, Florida’s Agency for Workforce Innovation reported Friday.

Jobless rates also fell in Palm Beach and Broward counties, but inched upward in Miami-Dade.

It’s hardly evidence that a recovery is underway, but might — emphasis on might — signal that the decline in the jobs market is beginning to slow.

Statewide, the rate dipped to 9.6 percent in April from the revised 9.8 percent rate posted for March. A year ago, unemployment was at 5.6 percent. By comparison, the national rate for April was 8.9 percent.

In Palm Beach County, joblessness fell to 9.7 percent in April from March’s revised figure of 10.0 percent. In real terms, those numbers translate to 60,743 Palm Beach County residents out of work in April compared with 63,045 a month earlier.

The significance of the drop is difficult to determine because county figures are not adjusted for seasonal factors, and employment in Palm Beach County tends to peak in March and April. It also could mean more people are discouraged in their efforts to find work and have temporarily quit looking.

A year ago the rate sat at 5.1 percent, with 31,531 Palm Beach County residents out of work.

Agency economist Rebecca Rust said the slight decline in the rate statistically is meaningless but along with other data, it could be a sign that the economy at long last is stabilizing. The last time the statewide rate dropped was February to March 2006.

“At least it hasn’t worsened,” Rust said. “We look for any positive signs.”

Florida actually added 1,300 jobs over the month, another small but positive sign, and the annual rate of job losses dipped below 5 percent. Rust also pointed to a small gain in housing starts and home sales as other glimmers of hope.

Florida’s economic estimating conference expects statewide unemployment to peak at 10.2 percent early next year, with a lukewarm recovery after that. Rust said it’s too early to say whether those projections are too pessimistic — or optimistic for that matter. The conference releases projections twice a year.

Other data from the report:

Construction continues to be the hardest hit sector, losing 105,000 jobs in the 12 months through April. Trade came in second with a loss of 80,000 jobs. Professional and business services lost 78,000 jobs, and leisure and hospitality — Florida’s tourism industry — dropped 41,000 jobs in the 12 months through April.

The only sector to gain was private education and health, up 17,000 jobs, with most of that coming from nursing and residential care facilities. Rust noted that growth in that sector is slowing, as some hospitals have reduced staff.

Broward County’s jobless rate dropped to 8.3 percent from 8.6 percent a month earlier. That’s nearly twice the rate of a year ago.

Miami-Dade saw its jobless rate rise slightly, to 8.0 percent from 7.8 percent in March. A year ago it was at 5.1 percent.