Jacksonville’s unemployment rate edged lower in July but job growth, while still strong, slowed down slightly.
The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties fell from 2.9% in June to 2.8% in July, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Aug. 19.
The jobless rate had risen slightly in May and June from its record low of 2.2% in April, as new high school and college graduates were added to the labor force, increasing the number of people counted as unemployed.
Nonfarm businesses in the metro area added 32,700 jobs from July 2021 through July 2022, a 4.5% growth rate.
That was below the June growth rate of 5.2%.
Duval County’s unemployment rate fell from 3.2% in June to 3.1% in July, but that was the only county in the metro area with a jobless rate above 3%.
St. Johns County fell by 0.1 point to 2.2% in July, reclaiming its long-standing ranking as the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state after slipping to third in June. Monroe, at 1.7% in July, has consistently had the lowest rate among Florida’s 67 counties.
Nassau County, at 2.4%, tied for fifth lowest in the state in July. Clay County was at 2.6% and Baker was at 2.8%.
Florida’s statewide unemployment rate fell by 0.1 point to a seasonally adjusted 2.7% in July.
The Department of Economic Opportunity does not adjust the Jacksonville data for seasonal factors in its monthly reports.
Every major industry sector in Northeast Florida has increased jobs in the past year.
Job growth was paced by the professional and business services sector, which added 18,400 jobs in the 12 months through July, a 16.1% growth rate.
The leisure and hospitality sector, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, added 7,000 jobs, or 8.4%.