UWF Haas Center eNewsletter

The unemployment rate for the Northwest Florida region in the fourth quarter of 2008 was 2.5 percent higher than it was in the fourth 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-ninth of April.

The unemployment rate in the Northwest Florida region for the fourth quarter of 2008 was 6.2 percent, up 2.5 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 being higher than the nation’s unemployment rate. Before the second quarter of 2008, the state’s unemployment rate had been lower than the nation’s rate since 2002. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the state’s unemployment rate was 0.8 percent higher than the nation’s rate at 6.6 percent.

Within the region, the quarterly unemployment rates ranged from 4.6 percent to 7.6 percent. Liberty County had the lowest unemployment rate at 4.6 percent, up 1.7 percent from last year. The next lowest rate was tied between Franklin County and Leon County at 5.1 percent. Washington County had the highest unemployment rate at 7.6 percent, up from last year 3.3 percent. The second highest rate was Bay County at 7.5 percent. The median unemployment rate for the sixteen counties was 5.8 percent.

Northwest Florida lost 2,945 jobs between fourth quarter 2007 and fourth quarter 2008. Nine counties in the region lost jobs over the same time period, and Escambia County lost the most jobs at 2,298. Unfortunately, all the sixteen counties increased their unemployment rate. Every county but Franklin County had an increase in their labor force. Walton County added the most jobs at 768.

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.

Table 1. Quarterly Employment
	4th Quarter 2008				Annual Changes (Q4-07 to Q4-08)
	Labor Force	Employment	Unemployment	Unemployment Rate	Jobs Added or Lost	Unemployment Rate Change
Bay	88,551	81,951	6,600	7.5%	-34	3.3%
Calhoun	6,014	5,664	350	5.8%	214	2.2%
Escambia	141,158	131,043	10,115	7.2%	-2,298	2.9%
Franklin	4,625	4,387	238	5.1%	-207	1.7%
Gadsden	21,488	19,912	1,576	7.3%	-162	2.6%
Gulf	6,276	5,825	450	7.2%	-46	3.1%
Holmes	9,269	8,741	528	5.7%	219	2.0%
Jackson	22,634	21,329	1,305	5.8%	454	1.9%
Jefferson	6,945	6,539	407	5.9%	-53	2.6%
Leon	148,300	140,744	7,557	5.1%	-1,147	1.9%
Liberty	4,032	3,847	185	4.6%	226	1.7%
Okaloosa	97,510	92,108	5,403	5.5%	312	2.2%
Santa Rosa	69,574	64,993	4,582	6.6%	-1,140	2.8%
Wakulla	15,559	14,694	865	5.6%	-120	2.5%
Walton	31,739	30,007	1,732	5.5%	768	2.3%
Washington	10,096	9,329	767	7.6%	70	3.3%
Region	683,771	641,113	42,658	6.2%	-2,945	2.5%
State	9,275,000	8,585,000	690,333	7.4%	-143,000	2.9%
US	154,661,667	144,500,667	10,161,000	6.6%	-2,231,000	2.0%

Original Data Sources: Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, Labor Market Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Florida Research and Economic Database. Data retrieved on 4/29/09.