February unemployment rate in Florida is highest since 1970

By Marcia Heroux Pounds, Sun Sentinel March 26, 2010

Florida‘s unemployment hit 12.2 percent in February, the highest rate on record, soaring past even the rates recorded in the 1973-1975 recession, the state work force agency said Friday.

February’s rate rose a 0.2 percentage point from the January revised rate of 12 percent. More than 1.26 million people are out of work in the state.

In South Florida, the unemployment rate remained nearly level in February with a month earlier, with Broward County at 10.8 percent compared with a revised 10.9 percent for January; Palm Beach County at 12.4 percent compared with a revised 12.5 percent; and Miami-Dade County at 11.2 percent, up from a revised 11.0 percent in January.

Unemployment in all three counties is still up significantly from the same month a year earlier, when the rates ranged from 8.0 percent to 8.3 percent.

Florida’s unemployment is now near the peak of 12.3 percent forecast for midsummer, according to Florida’s Economic Estimating Conference, a group of state labor experts. The comparable national unemployment rate is 9.7 percent for February.

FULL STORY

Help Make A Difference By Sharing These Articles On Facebook, Twitter And Elsewhere:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•