The records keep rolling
We’re starting 2022 with a batch of excellent economic news for the state of Florida. Unemployment is down, job growth and tax collections are up, and Florida is trailing only Texas in its population growth. The future of the Sunshine State is bright!
Unemployment Down: We’re continuing to make progress toward returning to pre-pandemic levels of unemployment. The November report shows the Florida unemployment rate is 4.5%, down from October’s 4.6%. The rate varies from a low of 2.2% in Monroe County to a high of 5.4% in Putnam County. The Department of Economic Opportunity notes that the state has recaptured 91.2% of the 1.27 million jobs lost between February and April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns. First-time jobless claims are averaging 5,463, similar to what they were before the pandemic.
Job Growth Up: In that same period, Florida gained 51,100 jobs, a rate six times faster than the nation’s job growth rate. In fact, Florida’s new job totals for November account for nearly 25% of the entire country’s job growth of 210,000 jobs in the month. Professional and Business Services saw the most job gains with 13,400 new jobs, followed by 11,600 new jobs in the Leisure and Hospitality sector, 8,200 new jobs in Construction, 6,000 new jobs in Education and Health Services, and 3,600 new jobs in Manufacturing. The Orlando area led in job growth in all of those categories.
Tax Collections Up: The state continued its stretch of beating revenue estimates, collecting $398.8 million more in general revenue taxes in November than expected. The majority of that came from sales tax collections ($294.8 million) as well as documentary-stamp taxes on real estate transactions ($29.1 million). Inflation is partly responsible, as the higher the price, the higher the tax collected. Other factors cited by state economists include federal payments of Advance Child Tax Credits, redirected spending from the service sector, and consumers drawing-down their large cache of savings amassed during the pandemic.
Population Growing: While the U.S. had its slowest growth rate in its history between 2020 and 2021, Census data shows Florida beat out all other states, except Texas, when it came to population increases. Florida grew by 211,196 people from July 2020 to July 2021, with an estimated population now of 21,781,128. Texas was up 310,288 residents to a population of 29,527,941. California remains the most populous state but lost a net 261,902 residents; New York lost 319,020 residents, the largest decline among all states. Florida also leads the nation in net migration gains – the number of people moving here from other states versus those leaving Florida.
LMA Newsletter of 1-3-22
