Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida’s economy continues to strengthen. Florida’s top rated higher education system, talented workforce, low taxes and reasonable regulatory environment continue to foster impressive economic indicators.
Positive economic indicators for the month of April that show how Florida continues to attract and grow businesses include:
- Florida’s private-sector businesses created more than 203,000 jobs over the year and 16,000 in April 2019.
- Florida’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.7 percent continues to outpace the national job growth rate of 2.0 percent.
- A low unemployment rate of 3.4 percent.
- The labor force continued to grow with 136,000 people entering the labor force over the year at an annual growth rate of 1.3 percent.
“It is important that we continue to strive to make Florida the ideal location for new and growing businesses,” said Governor DeSantis. “We need to keep working hard as we prepare for all economic possibilities. We have to keep taxes low, regulations reasonable and support career and technical education to ensure Floridians are able to achieve long-term economic prosperity.”
“Governor DeSantis’ bold vision for Florida’s economic future is working,” said Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Ken Lawson. “Our low unemployment rates and high job creation shows that Floridians are benefiting from a robust and diverse economic environment. We will continue to prioritize disaster recovery, community investments and workforce development so Floridians can create resilient communities across the state.”
Other positive economic indicators include:
- Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over-the-year were:
- Education and health services with 46,800 new jobs;
- Professional and business services with 42,700 new jobs;
- Leisure and hospitality with 32,000 new jobs;
- Trade, transportation and utilities with 24,600 new jobs;
- Construction with 22,600 new jobs; and
- Financial activities with 18,800 new jobs.
- Florida job postings showed 281,453 openings in April 2019.
- Consumer Sentiment Index is 102 in April 2019, the highest level in 17 years.
To view the April 2019 jobs report by region, please see below:
To view the April 2019 employment data visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.