The unemployment rate surged half a percentage point in the Tampa Bay area in November, increasing the jobless rate to 12.3 percent.
That's the highest rate among Florida's major metropolitan areas.
Meanwhile, the state's unemployment rate continued to rise as well, although the U.S. rate fell slightly last month.
New data from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation show an estimated 161,050 people are unemployed in the Bay area, which includes Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties. That is 12.3 percent of the area's labor force, which has 1.31 million people.
That unemployment rate is a significant jump from October, when the Bay area's rate was 11.8 percent. The unemployment rate in November 2008 was 7.9 percent in the Bay area.
Statewide, unemployment grew more slowly. The jobless rate in Florida rose to 11.5 percent in November from 11.3 percent a month earlier. In the nation overall, the jobless rate fell last month to 10 percent from 10.2 percent.
Among major metro areas in Florida, the unemployment rate at Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach actually fell 0.4 percent to 10.6 percent; Orlando-Kissimmee's rate was 11.8 and Jacksonville'srate was 11.2 percent.
Every major sector of Florida's economy fell except for health care and social assistance. Employment in that industry rose by 1.1 percent between November 2008 and last month.
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