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Holiday hiring drops unemployment in Palm Beach County

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Florida’s job market received a boost in December as temporary hiring sank unemployment rates throughout the state. But beyond that, the hiring picture changed little.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate held at 12 percent, same as in November but up from the 11.7 percent posted in December 2009, according to the report from Florida’s Agency for Workforce Innovation, released Friday.

december jobless chart

The raw, unadjusted numbers, show the real effect of seasonal hiring as the statewide rate dropped to 11.6 percent in December from 12.2 percent in November. The agency’s Rebecca Rust estimated that Florida’s retailers added about 30,000 temporary jobs during the October to December holiday shopping season.

In Palm Beach County, the jobless rate dropped to 11.5 percent in December from 12.3 percent in November and 11.7 percent a year ago. Those numbers are not adjusted to factor in seasonal hiring, so they also show the effects of the holidays on the job market.

The same pattern held true in Broward County, with the unemployment rate in Broward dropping to 10.2 percent in December from 10.8 percent a month earlier. A year ago, the Broward rate also sat at 10.2 percent.

Rust said 65 of the state’s 67 counties saw a drop in unemployment during December.

Four industry segments added jobs during December: private education and health services, up 34,500; leisure and hospitality, up 33,900; trade, transportation and utilities, up 9,600; and other services, up 9,300.

Six industry segments lost jobs: construction, down 20,200; financial services, down 7,700, information, down 5,200; manufacturing, down 5,000; government, down 3,200; professional and business services, down 2,600.

Progress on the jobs front is expected to be slow during the year; the latest forecast from the state’s economic estimating conference sees the jobless rate only dropping to 11 percent by the end of the year, and to 6 percent by 2019.

“We still have businesses cost cutting … and very weak demand,” Rust said. “Employers are still uncertain over the economic recovery.”

And when businesses are confident enough to spend, their focusing on improving efficiency rather than adding jobs, Rust said.

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JANUARY 21, 2011 click to go home
 
         
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