Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the Naples area added 3,300 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 2.9 percent in March, down 0.4 percentage point from one year ago. The Fort Myers area added 8,300 new private-sector jobs in the past year. The area’s unemployment rate was 3.1 percent in March, down 0.3 percentage point from one year ago.

The industry with the highest growth over the year in the Naples area was construction with 2,000 new jobs. In March, Naples had 4,671 job openings and of those, 783 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Fort Myers area were construction with 2,800 new jobs and leisure and hospitality with 2,000 new jobs. In March, Fort Myers had 9,848 job openings and of those, 1,630 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs.

Statewide, Florida businesses created 12,600 new private-sector jobs in March 2019. Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.7 percent continues to exceed the nation’s rate of 1.9 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate of 3.5 percent represents a drop of 0.3 percentage point over the year. This is while 158,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.6 percent in the past year.

To view the March 2019 employment data, visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

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