Jacksonville’s unemployment rate jumped in August to its highest level in more than four years, when the economy was beginning its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, with job growth at a post-pandemic low.
The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties rose from 4.2% in July to 4.6% in August, the Florida Department of Commerce reported Sept. 19.
That’s the highest jobless rate in the area since it was 4.7% in June 2021.
Jacksonville area nonfarm businesses added just 5,300 jobs from August 2024 through August 2025, a 0.7% growth rate.
That’s the lowest level since the pandemic caused job totals to drop every month from April 2020 through March 2021.
Excluding the pandemic impact, the last time job growth was this low in Northeast Florida was January 2012, when it was 0.6%.
All five counties in the metro area registered increases in unemployment last month, with Duval County rising by 0.3 percentage points to 4.6%.
Baker and Clay counties were also at 4.6%, with St. Johns at 4.5% and Nassau the lowest at 4.4%.
The survey of nonfarm businesses found a few industry sectors increasing jobs.
The biggest gains came in the private education and health services sector, which added 6,900 jobs in the 12 months through August, a 5.3% gain.
Construction was also strong, increasing jobs by 2,000, or 3.8%.
The only other private industry sector with a significant increase was professional, scientific and technical services, up 1,000 or 1.7%.
The largest job losses came in the category of administrative and support and waste management and remediation services, which fell by 2,000, or 3.6%.
The finance and insurance sector lost 1,000 jobs, a 1.9% decline, and leisure and hospitality also fell by 1,200, a 1.3% drop.
Florida’s job growth rate was 1% in August.
The state’s unemployment rate rose by 0.1 point to a seasonally adjusted 3.8% in August.
The Department of Commerce does not adjust local area unemployment data for seasonal factors in its monthly reports.