Polk County generated the second most jobs in two industries surveyed in November’s unemployment report compared to all other metro areas in statewide, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The two fastest growing industries in Polk were education and health, which are counted as a single category and added 9% more jobs year over year. The other services category, which covers jobs added in machinery repairs, and veterinary, laundry and dating services, among others, rose 10% higher in job creation compared to last November.
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“As the cost of living, and in particular housing costs, have gone up substantially in Tampa and Orlando the past two years, this has pushed households further out from these metro areas in search of relatively less expensive housing,” said Sean Snaith, an economist and director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Forecasting. “This influx of new residents brings with them the demand for education, healthcare and other services consumed by these new households driving job growth.”
Overall, the unemployment rate for Polk County was 3.2% in November compared to a year ago when the rate was 3.9%, according to FDOE and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Compared to the rest of Florida, the region’s November unemployment rate was 0.6% higher than the state’s at 2.6%.
The labor force in Polk County was 341,965, according to the FDEO, which is up 8,516 jobs or 2.6% more over the year. There were 10,992 unemployed residents in the region.
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In the November report, none of the industries lost jobs year over year in the Lakeland-Winter Haven metropolitan area.
Nonagricultural employment in Polk County was 271,600, an increase of 8,200 jobs or a rise of 3.1% compared to November 2021.
The industries gaining jobs over the year were:
- Education and Health Services (+3,300 jobs);
- Leisure and Hospitality (+1,500 jobs);
- Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+1,200 jobs);
- Professional and Business Services (+800 jobs);
- Other Services (+700 jobs);
- Financial Activities (+300 jobs);
- Government (+300 jobs); and
- Manufacturing (+100 jobs).
Tech jobs in the information category and the mining, logging and construction job sectors were unchanged for the same period.
In a FDEO press release, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Florida saw the lowest unemployment rate among the nation’s top 10 largest states and exceeded the national job growth rate for the 20th consecutive month in November.
Florida’s unemployment rate was 2.6% in November, the FDEO reported. That is more than a percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.7 %. The November rate in Florida marked the second consecutive year the state’s unemployment rate has been lower than the national rate. Florida’s private sector employment increased by 27,100 jobs over the month in November, an increase of 0.3% Florida’s total private sector employment increased by 5.2% (+420,700 jobs) over the year in November, which was faster than the national private sector job growth rate of 3.6%.
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The U.S. unemployment rates were higher in November in 12 states, lower in three states and the District of Columbia, and stable in 35 states, the BLS reported on Friday.
In 36 states and D.C. there were jobless rate decreases since last year. Meanwhile, three states had increases and 11 remained virtually unchanged. The 3.7% national unemployment rate was still half a percent lower than in November 2021.
“Florida continues to have a strong labor market with more than 455,000 open jobs,” said Jerry Parrish, chief economist and director of state and local policy analysis at Florida State University’s Florida Institute of Government. “Florida recovered its job losses from the COVID pandemic by October 2021 – ten months earlier than the U.S. which didn’t recover until August 2022.”
“The Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA (Polk County) was one of the first regions in Florida (and the U.S.) to recover its pre-COVID job numbers,” Parrish added. “Polk County recovered even earlier than Florida – reaching the pre-COVID number of jobs by September 2020.”
Paul Nutcher can be reached at pnutcher@gannett.com.
