Jacksonville's unemployment rate rose slightly in May despite an increase in jobs, as new college and high school graduates entered the labor force and increased the number of people looking for work.
The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area rose from a 13-year low of 2.8% in April to 3% in May, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said.
The number of people in the labor force in the metropolitan area, which consists of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, rose by about 18,000 last month, a normal annual trend heading into summer.
The Department of Economic Opportunity does not adjust the Jacksonville data for seasonal factors but the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project said when it is seasonally adjusted, the area’s jobless rate still rose from 2.83% in April to 3.02% in May.
Although the rate rose, UNF economist Albert Loh said the trends are positive because employment is growing along with the increase in the labor force.
“The data points to a healthy expansion of our local economy in Jacksonville," he said. "It is exciting whenever we have a growing labor force that can be easily matched with employment.”
Duval County's unemployment rate rose by 0.1 point to 3.1% in May without seasonal adjustment, the Department of Economic Opportunity said. But Loh said when the data is adjusted, it shows a decline from 3.13% in April to 2.79% in May.
St. Johns County's rate rose by 0.1 point last month to 2.5% without seasonal adjustment, but it remained tied with Okaloosa County for the second-lowest rate in the state behind Monroe County's 2.1%.
Florida’s statewide unemployment rate fell by 0.1 point in May to a seasonally adjusted 3.4%.
Job growth picked up in the Jacksonville area in May. Nonfarm businesses added 14,300 jobs from May 2018 through May 2019, a 2% growth rate.
The growth rate for the area was below 2% in each of the first four months of 2019.
The biggest job gains came in the leisure and hospitality sector, which gained 5,600 jobs in the 12-month period, a 6.5% growth rate.
Other big gains came in the professional, scientific and technical services sector which added 3,600 jobs, or 8%.
Despite the net growth over the past year, several sectors are losing jobs.
The construction industry, which has been a major growth engine for Northeast Florida in recent years, declined by 400 jobs, or 0.9%, in the past 12 months.
Other sectors had bigger job losses. Transportation, warehousing and utilities lost 1,400 jobs, or 3.7%; administrative and support and waste services lost 1,200, or 2.1%; and finance and insurance fell by 900, or 1.6%
Florida’s statewide growth rate was 2.5% in the 12 months through May. The only one of the state’s 24 metro areas to lose jobs was Panama City, which still hasn’t recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Michael last year.
Panama City lost a net total of 2,000 jobs in the last year, or 2.3%.