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Florida TaxWatch Economic Commentary
Florida continues to be a top national job creator
Florida continued its strong job-creating streak between June 2014-June 2015, according to a mid-year update from Florida TaxWatch.
Metropolitan Areas with Significant Growth
"Florida’s 2015 Mid-Year Job Growth"
While all of Florida’s metropolitan areas showed positive gains, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics highlights two Florida metropolitan areas as having significant gains in non-farm employment in the last 12 months (see table on next page). Among metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area experienced the third largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment at 4.3 percent.3
Of all metropolitan areas, the Sebring area had the second-largest year-to-year percentage gain in the nation at 6.1 percent, trailing only Provo-Orem, Utah at 6.9 percent. The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island and Ocala areas also experienced large job gains by percentage, at 4.8 and 3.6 percent, respectively.
| Job Creation by Metropolitan Area | |||
| Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics // Seasonally Adjusted, in thousands of jobs | |||
| Metropolitan Area | June '14 | June '15 | Job Gains |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers | 229.6 | 237.5 | 7.9 |
| Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach |
774.9 | 800.9 | 26 |
| Gainesville |
131.1 | 134.1 | 3 |
| Jacksonville |
622.1 | 636.9 | 14.8 |
| Lakeland-Winter Haven |
201.5 | 207.9 | 6.4 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach |
2,421.8 | 2,493.2 | 71.4 |
| Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island |
129.3 | 135.2 | 5.9 |
| North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton |
268.6 | 276.4 | 7.8 |
| Ocala |
94.9 | 98.7 | 3.8 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford |
1,108.9 | 1,155 | 46.1 |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville |
196.9 | 201. | 9 5 |
| Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent |
164 | 168.4 | 4.4 |
| Port St. Lucie |
131.4 | 135.9 | 4.5 |
| Punta Gorda |
43.7 | 45 | 1.3 |
| Sebastian-Vero Beach |
47.3 | 48.1 | 0.8 |
| Tallahassee |
171.4 | 174.5 | 3.1 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater | 1,207.9 | 1,239.6 | 31.7 |
Conclusion
Halfway through 2015, non-farm job growth in Florida is healthy and broad-based. The past year has seen wide variation in job creation by month, but has consistently maintained positive job creation numbers throughout. Significant gains in the Leisure and Hospitality, Education and Health Services, Retail Trade, and Professional and Business Services industries led the state, while the Information industry showed the only loss (although a comparatively small loss of 900 jobs).
These figures show that Florida is continuing its successful recovery from the Great Recession, building its economy in a variety of important industries, but not at a pace that would significantly increase employment costs overall and, in turn, increase costs to consumers. Continuing on this path will position Florida to lead the way in sustainable economic growth through 2015.
3 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Economic Commentary written by
Jennifer Linares, MS, Economist & Research Analyst, and Steven T. Petty, Ph.D., Chief Economist.
Robert Weissert, Sr. VP for Research & General Counsel
Steven T. Petty, Ph.D., Chief Economist
Chris Barry, Director of Publications
Michelle A. Robinson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Florida TaxWatch
Sen. George LeMieux, Advisory Board Chairman, Center for Competitive Florida
"Florida’s 2015 Mid-Year Job Growth"
Dominic M. Calabro, President, CEO, Publisher & Editor
Florida TaxWatch Research Institute, Inc.
www.floridataxwatch.org
Copyright © Florida TaxWatch, July 2015
