Jacksonville’s unemployment rate rose in January, a normal seasonal trend, as businesses reduced staff after the holiday season.
The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area (Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties) rose from a revised 3.2% in December to 4.4% in January, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported March 15.
The state agency had previously reported Jacksonville’s December unemployment rate at 4.8%. The January data is delayed every year as the agency makes revisions to the previous year’s data.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted changes in statistical models used to calculate the data, Department of Economic Opportunity Chief Economist Adrienne Johnston said in a media conference call.
“This year there were larger than usual revisions to the unemployment rate due to the unprecedented economic changes that occurred this past year,” she said.
Florida’s seasonally-adjusted rate fell by 0.3 percentage point to 4.8% in January, the Department of Economic Opportunity said.
The agency does not adjust the data for seasonal factors, but University of North Florida economist Albert Loh said when seasonally adjusted, Jacksonville had a smaller unemployment increase from 3.53% in December to 3.95% in January.
Without seasonal adjustments, the statewide rate rose by 1.1 point to 5.3%.
Jacksonville’s unadjusted jobless rate rose because the size of the labor market (people working or actively seeking jobs) increased by about 5,000 while the number of people who said they were employed dropped by 4,000 in January.
St. Johns County’s unemployment rose by 0.9 point to 3.5% in January, tied with Monroe County for the lowest rate in the state.
Duval County’s rate rose from 3.5% to 4.7%. Baker County was at 4.4% and Clay and Nassau counties were at 4%.
Non-farm businesses reported a 19,700 drop in their payrolls from January 2020 to January 2021 to 709,200, a 2.7% decline.
The biggest job losses were in the leisure and hospitality industry as many businesses closed down or reduced capacity during the pandemic.
Leisure and hospitality jobs dropped by 9,700 from January 2020 to January 2021, an 11.4% decline.
Most major industry sectors reported employment losses but the construction industry had 45,800 jobs in January 2021, unchanged from January 2020.
The one major industry sector to increase jobs was financial activities, up 1,600 or 2.4% during the 12-month period.