Jacksonville’s unemployment rate edged higher in May as job growth slowed in the region, the Florida Department of Commerce reported June 20.
The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties ticked up from 3.5% in April to 3.6% in May.
May is typically a month when the jobless rate moves higher as new college graduates enter the labor force and can’t find jobs right away.
However, the number of people who said they were employed in the Department of Commerce’s monthly survey declined by about 500 last month to 825,095.
A separate survey of nonfarm businesses in Northeast Florida showed their payrolls grew by only 9,000 from May 2024 through May 2025, a 1.1% growth rate.
That matches October 2024 for the slowest growth rate in the region since the coronavirus pandemic.
Most major industry sectors reported gains in their payrolls, but one exception was the financial activities sector, which lost 5,100 jobs in the 12-month period, a 6.8% drop.
The category of administrative and support and waste management and remediation services fell by 2,100, or 3.8%.
The only other sector losing jobs was manufacturing, which fell by 100, or 0.3%.
The biggest job gains came in the private education and health services category which added 7,300 jobs, or 5.6%.
Jacksonville’s job growth was slower than Florida’s statewide growth rate of 1.5% in the 12 months through May.
Florida’s unemployment rate was unchanged in May at a seasonally adjusted 3.7%. The Department of Commerce does adjust rates for local areas in its monthly reports.
Duval County’s unemployment rate, without adjustment, rose from 3.6% in April to 3.7% in May, while Baker rose by 0.2 percentage points to 3.7% and Clay rose by 0.1 point to 3.6%.
Nassau County was unchanged at 3.4% and St. Johns was unchanged at 3.5%.