The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville area rose slightly in April as job losses continued, the Florida Department of Commerce reported May 22.
The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties rose from 4.7% in March to 4.8% in April.
Nonagricultural employers in Northeast Florida reported a net loss of 3,400 jobs on their payrolls from April 2025 through April 2026, a 0.4% decline.
The number of jobs has fallen every month this year. Excluding the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, these are the first declines in jobs in the region since 2010, when the economy was recovering from the Great Recession.
The biggest job losses have been in the financial activities sector, which had a net decline of 3,700, or 5.1%, in the 12 months through April.
Federal government jobs dropped by 1,700, or 8.4% in the 12-month period, as cuts recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency began taking effect in the spring of 2025.
The biggest job gains in the past year came in the private education and health services sector which added 2,300 jobs, a 1.7% increase.
With college graduates entering the job market, the hiring outlook for them in Jacksonville may not be promising, according to a recent study by human resources and payroll services firm ADP.
ADP’s survey of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas released May 3 showed Jacksonville ranked 42nd out of 46 markets for job prospects for young adults.
The study was based on median wages and hiring rates for workers age 20 to 29 in jobs that might require a bachelor’s degree.
The survey also looked at affordability for living in each market.
Based on those factors, ADP came up with percentile scores for each market and Jacksonville was at 21%, meaning that 79% of the markets had better outlooks than Jacksonville.
All five counties in the Jacksonville area had increased unemployment rates in April, according to the Department of Commerce.
Duval, Baker and Clay counties were all at 4.9%, with St. Johns at 4.8% and Nassau at 4.6%.
Florida’s statewide unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to a seasonally adjusted 4.8% in April.
The Department of Commerce does not provide seasonally adjusted rates for local areas in its monthly reports.