Jacksonville’s jobless rate improved in June, bucking the usual seasonal trend where college and high school graduates entering the workforce increase unemployment.
The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area fell from 5.5 percent in May to 5.4 percent in June, before any seasonal adjustment to account for the normal influx of new job seekers in the spring, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday.
The state agency does not provide seasonally adjusted data for local markets.
But the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project (LEIP) reported that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the jobless rate dropped sharply from 5.69 percent in May to 5.1 percent in June.
“It was a better market than we normally see in June,” UNF economist Paul Mason said.
“Everything moved in the right direction,” he said.
Duval County’s unemployment rate, before seasonal adjustments, fell by 0.1 percentage point to 5.9 percent last month, the Department of Economic Opportunity said.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, Duval County’s jobless rate dropped from 5.79 percent to 5.64 percent, according to LEIP.
St. Johns County continued to have the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state at 4 percent in June (not adjusted), behind the 3.6 percent rate for Monroe County, the Department of Economic Opportunity reported.
Florida’s statewide unemployment rate fell by 0.2-points to a seasonally adjusted 5.5 percent in June.
The Department of Economic Opportunity’s survey of business payrolls in the Jacksonville metropolitan area — consisting of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties — showed that non-farm jobs grew by 15,100 from June 2014 through June 2015, a 2.4 percent growth rate.
However, one business sector is reporting a sharp decline in jobs. The category of professional and technical services fell by 3,600 jobs in the 12-month period, a 9.1 percent decline.
There were no mass layoffs reported recently to account for the big drop in the sector. That sector covers a broad range of businesses including the legal, accounting and engineering professions.
That drop has been more than offset by gains in other sectors, including a 7.5 percent rise in leisure and hospitality and a 7.2 percent increase in retail trade.
Jacksonville’s growth rate is lagging behind Florida’s statewide growth of 3.4 percent over the past year.
However, Jacksonville is ahead of the national job growth rate of 2.1 percent.