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State's Unemployment Rate Soars

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By MICHAEL SASSO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 16, 2008

TAMPA - Florida's unemployment rate in July increased to 6.1 percent, the highest in the state in 13 years.

Job losses in the construction industry contributed the most to rising unemployment in the state, but significant numbers of jobs also were lost in manufacturing, employment services, automotive sales and other industries, a new report says.

Florida's unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points in July, to 6.1 percent. That is 2 percentage points higher than July 2007, when the rate stood at 4.1 percent, according to figures released Friday from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

Florida's unemployment is higher than the overall U.S. unemployment rate, which hit 5.7 percent in July.

"If you look at Florida's recent history, it's pretty high," Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida, said of Florida's unemployment rate.

"It's above where we were in the wake of Sept. 11," he said, referring to the terrorist attacks in 2001.

Hillsborough County's unemployment rose to 6.5 percent in July, up from 5.8 percent in June and 4.3 percent a year ago.

Pinellas County's rate rose to 6.2 percent in July, up from 5.5 percent in June and 4.2 percent in July 2007. In Pasco County, the unemployment rate was 7.5 percent in July, up from 6.8 percent in June and 5.2 percent in July 2007.

Florida shed 96,800 jobs in the 12-month period ending in July. The hard-hit construction industry shed 79,200 jobs, or 13 percent of its total jobs.

This week, Gov. Charlie Crist said he wants to push ahead with a backlog of school, road and other state infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy. There is about $28.6 billion in unspent money that has been approved for such construction projects in the past 10 years, the governor said.

Snaith, the UCF economist, said getting such projects going might be the right prescription for the state's economy.

"We are in need of a lot of these projects in Florida, not just to stimulate the economy but to lay the basis for future growth," he said.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at msasso@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7865.

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