After two straight monthly increases, Jacksonville’s unemployment rate headed back in a positive direction in August, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday.
The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area — consisting of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties — fell from 5 percent in July to 4.7 percent in August, the state agency said.
The 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 still showed a drop from 4.96 percent in July to 4.81 percent.
UNF economist Albert Loh said a decline in August “is consistent with a typical trend this time of year.”
Loh sees the drop as “modest” but after the jobless rate rose in June and July, it is still good news for the Jacksonville area economy.
“It is significant enough to lighten concerns about the recovery,” he said.
Duval County’s unemployment rate fell from 5.3 percent in July to 5.1 percent last month, the Department of Economic Opportunity said.
When the data is seasonally adjusted, it shows a slight decrease from 5.2 percent to 5.13 percent in August, according to LEIP.
St. Johns County’s jobless rate, which fell by 0.3 points to 3.6 percent in August, before seasonal adjustment, continued to be the second-lowest rate in Florida. Only Monroe County, at 3.1 percent, was lower.
Jacksonville’s unemployment rate was higher than Florida’s statewide seasonally adjusted rate of 4.7 percent in August, unchanged from July.
However, Jacksonville is beating the state in job growth. Jacksonville area non-farm employers added 24,900 jobs from August 2015 through August 2016, a 3.8 percent growth rate. Florida’s overall growth rate was 3.2 percent in the 12-month period.
The Jacksonville labor market was helped by a big jump in construction jobs in the last 12 months. The construction sector added 4,300 jobs, a 12.1 percent increase.
That was well above the growth rate of the second-ranking sector, leisure and hospitality sector, which rose by 5.9 percent.
Every major industry sector has been adding jobs with one exception, the information sector, which lost a net total of 400 jobs in the 12 months, a drop of 4.3 percent.