Jacksonville’s unemployment rate ticked up in October but remained at low levels not seen in a dozen years.
The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area (Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties) rose from 2.8 percent in September to 2.9 percent in October, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said Friday.
The last time the rate remained below 3 percent for two consecutive months was March and April 2006.
The state agency does not adjust the local market data for seasonal factors but according to the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project, when the data is seasonally adjusted it also shows a slight increase from 2.87 percent in September to 2.99 percent last month.
“I think the labor market is still pretty stable,” UNF economist Albert Loh said.
“This time of year we are not expecting a whole lot of change in the unemployment rate.”
Loh said national consumer spending trends are pointing to a strong holiday season, which should be a positive for the labor market for the final weeks of 2018.
Duval County’s unemployment rate was unchanged last month at 3 percent without seasonal adjustment, the Department of Economic Opportunity reported.
Loh said on a seasonally adjusted basis, Duval County’s jobless rate declined slightly from 3.17 percent in September to 3.04 percent in October.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point last month to 3.4 percent, the Department of Economic Opportunity said.
Jacksonville still is gaining jobs, with nonagricultural employers reporting a net gain of 14,800 on their payrolls from October 2017 through October 2018, a 2.1 percent growth rate.
However, that was less than half the growth in the 12-month period from September 2017 through September 2018 when Northeast Florida businesses reported a net gain of 30,200 jobs, a 4.4 percent growth rate.
The slower growth in October was at least in part due to seasonal factors.
The leisure and hospitality sector was the hottest growth industry in September, with an 11.3 percent jump in jobs over the previous 12 months.
But leisure and hospitality employment declined from September to October as the summer tourism season ended. The industry still had a net gain of 3,100 jobs from October 2017 through October 2018, but that represented only a 3.7 percent growth rate.
Most major industry sectors in the Jacksonville area continued to add jobs in the 12-month period. The exceptions were wholesale trade, down 800 jobs (3.2 percent), and transportation, warehousing and utilities, down 700 (1.9 percent).
Jacksonville’s growth rate in the past year fell behind Florida’s statewide growth rate of 2.7 percent in October but remained ahead of the national growth rate of 1.7 percent.
The Department of Economic Opportunity said every metropolitan area in Florida reported year-over-year job gains except Panama City, which had a net loss of 100 jobs after the area was devastated by Hurricane Michael last month.
Panama City's unemployment rate was tied with the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area for the second-lowest jobless rate in the state last month at 2.7 percent, without seasonal adjustment.
The Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin area to the west of Panama City was lowest at 2.4 percent.
The full impact of the hurricane on the job market in the Panhandle region will likely not show up until the November data is released.