Jacksonville’s unemployment rate fell in December for the eighth straight month, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area – Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties – fell from 5.9 percent in November to 5.6 percent in December, the lowest level since mid-2008.
The state agency does not adjust its data for seasonal factors, such as Christmas hiring by retailers. However, the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project said that when the data is seasonally adjusted, it shows the unemployment rate falling from 6.06 percent in November to 5.89 percent in December.
Duval County’s unemployment rate fell by 0.3-points to 5.9 percent in December, the state agency said, but on a seasonally adjusted basis, the county rate dropped more sharply from 6.55 percent to 5.68 percent, according to LEIP.