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Region's Metro Areas Rank High In U.S. Jobs-Lost Tally
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Published: July 10, 2008
The Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice market recorded the fourth highest percentage drop in total employment nationwide for the past year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics released this week.
Total employment dropped 3.7 percent in the 12 months ended in May.
Included within the top five were other areas on the west coast of Florida still feeling the hangover from the real estate and construction boom of the past five years: Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 2 with a 5.3 percent decline and Naples-Marco Island at No. 3 with a 4.6 percent decline in employment.
Topping the list is Flint, Mich., with a 6 percent decline -- hit hard by layoffs in the automotive industry. Behind Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice was Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich., with a 3.3 percent.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach were fourth and fifth on a list of areas losing the most jobs. The markets lost 20,300 and 16,500 jobs, respectively.
Unemployment rates were higher in May than a year earlier in 328 of the 369 metropolitan areas, lower in 30 and unchanged in 11 that the bureau studies. Six areas reported jobless rates of at least 10 percent, and 16 areas registered rates below 3 percent.
Measured county by county, Charlotte County's unemployment rate hit 7.4 percent in May, putting it at No. 4 in the state, according to figures from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. Sarasota County was No. 16 at 5.9 percent, and Manatee County was No. 20 at 5.7 percent.
Collectively, there were 24,219 workers without jobs in May out of a labor force of 397,503 in the three-county area, making for an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent.
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