Gov. Scott: Tampa Added More Than 28,000 New Jobs Over the Year

Press Release

Today, Governor Rick Scott announced the Tampa Bay area added 28,500 new jobs over the year in September 2015. The unemployment rate in the Tampa Bay area also declined by 0.9 percentage point over the year from 5.9 percent in September 2014 to 5.0 percent in September 2015. Florida businesses have added 941,000 private-sector jobs since December 2010.

Governor Scott said, "It is great news that the Tampa Bay area added over 28,000 new jobs over the year. Tampa is also number one in Florida for current job openings, helping more Floridians have the opportunity to find a great career."

The industries with the largest gain in jobs over the year were leisure and hospitality with 12,900 new jobs and education and health services with 8,600 new jobs, the highest in the state for that industry. The Tampa Bay MSA was first among the state metro areas in job demand in September 2015 with 49,695 openings. The metro area was also first in the state in demand for high-wage, high-skill science, technology engineering, and math (STEM) occupations, with 14,750 openings in September.

Florida created 8,700 private-sector jobs in September 2015, and a total of 941,000 private-sector jobs since December 2010. Florida's statewide unemployment rate for September 2015 was 5.2 percent. In September, more than 40,000 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Tampa Bay and the state's other 23 regional workforce boards.

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