Jobs, unemployment rates and expansion are top of mind in Jacksonville's economic-development efforts.
Jacksonville's unemployment rate fell to 6 percent in October, a five-year low. Adjusted for seasonal factors, the rate dropped to 6.2 percent – higher, but still a drop.
At the same time, more jobs have been reported in the past week. Advent Software wants to add 123 IT software developers and client support specialists. JAXUSA Partnership President Jerry Mallot said Bank of America Merrill Lynch could create 1,000 jobs in Jacksonville the next three to four years.
That's the short-term. A state report shows where the opportunities are expected through 2020.
Job-seekers in Jacksonville might have the best shot at employment if they're applying for office and administrative jobs.
State numbers, as calculated in January, show that the most jobs, and the most annual openings, will be in that field through 2020.
From 2012-20, the six-county Workforce Region will gain an average of 4,001 jobs a year from replacing office and administrative positions as well as filling new ones.
The region comprises Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties. The forecast was made this year by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
By 2020, there will be more than 133,100 office and administrative support jobs, defined by almost 50 job titles that include financial clerks, customer service representatives, police and fire dispatchers, postal carriers, shipping and receiving clerks, legal secretaries and office clerks.
In 2012, those jobs paid an hourly average from $10.46 to $26.08.
The next biggest category, both for job gains and total employment, is sales and related occupations.
The area will gain an average 3,579 jobs a year, from separations and new positions, to reach almost 90,000 employees by 2020.
Jacksonville region job growth
| Occupation | 2020 employment | Average annual openings* | Average hourly pay |
| Office/administrative support | 133,147 | 4,001 | $10-$26 |
| Sales/related | 89,821 | 3,579 | $9-$44 |
| Food preparation/serving | 65,797 | 3,284 | $9-$24 |
| Transportation/material moving | 49,478 | 1,657 | $9-$62 |
| Health care practitioners & technical | 44,182 | 1,633 | $12-$101 |
| Construction/extraction | 33,934 | 1,476 | $12-$27 |
| Business/financial operations | 44,126 | 1,407 | $12-$44 |
| Education/training/library | 37,130 | 1,283 | $12-$103 |
| Installation/maintenance/repair | 32,204 | 1,098 | $10-$30 |
| Personal care/services | 24,900 | 1,067 | $9-$28 |
| Building/grounds cleaning/maintenance | 25,568 | 872 | $9-$20 |
| Production | 29,425 | 866 | $9-$28 |
| Management | 28,272 | 800 | $25-$88 |
| Health care support | 22,460 | 714 | $10-$28 |
| Computer/mathematical | 19,371 | 630 | $22-$46 |
| Protective services | 17,066 | 590 | $9-$43 |
| Arts/design/entertainment/sports/media | 9,822 | 348 | $13-$58 |
| Community/social services | 10,649 | 326 | $16-$28 |
| Architecture/engineering | 10,145 | 302 | $17-$42 |
| Legal occupations | 6,791 | 188 | $11-$111 |
| Life/physical/social sciences | 3,605 | 139 | $13-$64 |
| Farming/fishing/forestry | 1,639 | 56 | $9-$22 |
| Total | 739,532 | 26,320 |
*The total listed, which includes new and replacement jobs, is provided by the state and differs from the total of annual openings if added separately. The state did not specify all of the jobs in each of the more than 500 job titles.
Source: Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Labor Market Statistics Center January 2013.
The 18 job categories for sales include supervisors; cashiers; sales agents in advertising, insurance, travel and securities and financial services; real estate brokers and telemarketers.
Those jobs paid an average hourly wage of $9.39 to $44.
Other big job gains are predicted in food services, transportation, health care, construction, business and financial operations, education, maintenance and personal care.
The state calculated projections for 22 occupations (see chart above), with more than 500 job titles among them.
It stated that because most industries experienced job declines in the recession that began in 2007, some of the projected job growth includes recapturing the jobs that were lost.
In the six-county region, six job titles are expected to add fewer than 400 jobs a year and one is projected to add fewer than 100.
The farming, fishing and forestry category is projected to gain an average of 56 jobs a year — 50 from people leaving positions and just six newly created.
However, the yearly additions won't be enough to maintain the 2012 level. There are projected to be 100 fewer jobs by 2020.
The others expected to create fewer than 400 jobs a year are the arts and media (348); community and social services (326); architecture and engineering (302); legal occupations (188); and life sciences (139).
A review by the Daily Record found that 82 percent of the more than 500 occupations tracked paid an average 2012 hourly wage between $10 and $39, and half of those paid $10 to $19.
Not all of the job titles included the 2012 average hourly wage, but among those that did, the highest had the fewest openings, with the top-paying position expecting just two openings a year.
They were:
• $110.90, judges, magistrate judges and magistrates, with an average of just two openings a year due to separations as opposed to newly created positions.
• $103.48, health specialties teachers, postsecondary, with 52 openings a year.
• $100.78, physicians and surgeons, 67 openings a year.
• $96.58, general internists, with eight openings a year.
• $87.89, CEOs, 53 openings a year.
• $80.56, family and general practitioners, 22 openings a year.
• $80.09, general dentists, nine openings a year.
The wage categories paying an average of less than $9 an hour were:
• $8.54, dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, an average 120 openings a year.
• $8.64, food preparation and serving workers, 667 openings a year.
• $8.70, dishwashers, 209 openings a year.
• $8.72, ushers, lobby attendants and ticket takers, 70 openings a year.
• $8.79, cafeteria and coffee-shop counter attendants, 110 openings a year.
• $8.90, fast-food cooks, 83 openings a year.
• $8.92, restaurant, lounge and coffee-shop hosts, 168 openings a year.
• $8.94, amusement and recreation attendants, 108 openings a year.
It's evident that the higher-paying jobs are those that require the highest levels of education.
And the higher-paying jobs are the fewest — 11 percent of the occupations tracked pay an hourly average of $40-$59 and just 2 percent pay $60 an hour and higher.
At the bottom end, 5 percent pay less than $10 an hour.
@MathisKb
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