eNews Home

Northwest Florida Employment
by Michael Scheibe, MBA

The unemployment rate for the Northwest Florida region in the first quarter of 2008 was 0.7 percent higher than it was in the first quarter of 2007. The unemployment rate identifies the percentage of people in the labor force that are seeking a job but do not have one. The labor force is the sum of those employed and unemployed, but it does not include the jobless who are not seeking employment such as full-time students and retirees.  

Monthly estimates of labor force, employment, and unemployment for selected counties and cities are calculated using the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. The concepts and definitions underlying LAUS data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS); this household survey is the official measure of the labor force for the nation. The data for this article was extracted from the LAUS program on the twenty-third of June.

The unemployment rate in the Northwest Florida region for the first quarter of 2008 was 4 percent, up 0.7 percent from last year as previously mentioned. The region continued its trend of being lower than both the state’s and the nation’s rate as demonstrated in the graph comparing unemployment rates. The state’s unemployment rate continued to be lower than the nation’s unemployment rate. Barring last October, when the state’s unemployment rate matched the nation’s rate at 4.4 percent, the state’s unemployment rate has been lower than the nation’s rate since 2002.

Within the region, the quarterly unemployment rates had a range of 1.9 percent. Liberty County had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.1 percent, up 0.5 percent from last year. The next lowest rate was 3.3 percent, which was shared by Leon County and Wakulla County. Washington County had the highest unemployment rate at 5 percent, up 1.2 percent from last year. The second highest rate was Gulf County at 4.8 percent. The median unemployment rate for the sixteen counties was 4.1 percent.

Northwest Florida filled 11,499 jobs between first quarter 2007 and first quarter 2008. All the sixteen counties increased their unemployment rate. Fortunately, every county in the region except for Franklin County had an increase in the number of filled jobs. Walton County and Escambia County added the most jobs at 2,943 and 2,125, respectively. On the downside, Franklin County lost 38 jobs and experienced a decrease in its labor force. The other fifteen counties in the region had an increase in their labor force. Therefore, the unemployment rate increases were due to employment increases not keeping pace relative to the increases in labor force.

The results of the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey suggest that nationwide hiring will decline in the second quarter of 2008. Jeffrey A. Joerres, the Chairman and CEO of Manpower Inc., stated that “a slowing in hiring intentions reflects a widespread wait-and-see approach among employers.” Accordingly, the results of the survey indicated that 60 percent of the respondents expect no change in the rate of hiring, 26 percent plan on increases, 9 percent plan on reductions, and 5 percent are unsure. The regional results from employers in the South show a net employment outlook of 19 percent because 26 percent plan on increasing their hiring rate while 7 percent plan on decreasing their payrolls.

The numbers for this article reflect the latest information available online at the time of article preparation. Please note that these numbers are subject to subsequent revision by the Agency for Workforce Innovation.