Jacksonville’s unemployment rate held basically steady at a low rate in November, a signal the economy is strong heading into the holiday season.
The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area — consisting of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties — edged up from 4.6 percent in October to 4.7 percent in November, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said Friday.
The state agency does not adjust the data for seasonal factors but the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project reported when the rate is seasonally adjusted, it shows unemployment edging lower from 4.75 percent in October to 4.72 percent last month.
Duval County’s unemployment rate rose by 0.1 point to 5 percent in November, without seasonal adjustment, but LEIP’s seasonally adjusted data showed an even bigger jump from 4.98 percent in October to 5.44 percent last month.
However, UNF economist Albert Loh said the trend for the entire metropolitan area is strong, with the jobless rate remaining below 5 percent.
“Overall, it’s still encouraging,” he said. “It’s a sign of a stable and healthy labor market at this time of year.”
Despite the increase in Duval, the other counties in the metro area were unchanged or slightly lower.
St. Johns County continued to have the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state at 3.8 percent without adjustment, unchanged from October. Only Monroe County, at 3.2 percent, was lower.
Baker County fell by 0.1 point to 4.6 percent last month, Clay County was unchanged at 4.4 percent and Nassau County was unchanged at 4.5 percent.
Jacksonville non-farm businesses reported a net gain of 23,700 jobs on their payrolls from November 2015 through November 2016, a 3.6 percent gain.
Retail businesses added 2,300 jobs in November as they geared up for the holiday season and reported a net gain of 1,900 jobs since November 2015, a 2.4 percent growth rate.
“November is the strongest month for retail hiring,” said Loh.
Most private industry sectors continue to add jobs with the exception of the information sector, down 2.2 percent in the 12-month period, and the professional and technical services sector, down 1.7 percent.
Government employment fell 0.5 percent in the past year, with most of the job losses at the local level.
Jacksonville’s 12-month job growth rate was higher than Florida’s overall increase of 3.2 percent.
The statewide unemployment rate edged up by 0.1 point to a seasonally adjusted 4.9 percent, the Department of Economic Opportunity said.