Gov. Scott: West Palm Beach Added More Than 18,000 Jobs Over the Year

Press Release

Governor Rick Scott announced today that the West Palm Beach area added 18,400 private-sector jobs over the year in January. The area's unemployment rate declined by 0.4 percent over the year to 4.9 percent in January. Florida has added 1,060,800 private sector jobs since 2010. Governor Scott will celebrate this great news today on his five-city "Million, Billion Jobs Victory Tour."

Governor Scott said, "The creation of more than 18,000 jobs in the Palm Beach area is proof that our efforts to diversify our economy and cut taxes are creating more opportunities for families to succeed. We have cut $1 billion in taxes over the past two years and added more than one million jobs in the last five years, and I am excited to share this accomplishment with families across Florida on today's "Million, Billion Jobs Victory Tour.' We will continue to do all we can to give more money back to Florida taxpayers so our economy can grow and Florida can become first for jobs."

The industries with the largest job gains over the year in the West Palm Beach area were professional and business services with 4,200 new jobs; education and health services with 3,700 new jobs; and trade, transportation, and utilities with 3,200 new jobs. The area rounded out the top five metros in the state with 19,604 job openings in January, including 5,750 high-wage, high-skill science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations.

Florida created 36,000 private-sector jobs in January, and a total of 1,060,800 private-sector jobs since December 2010. Florida's statewide unemployment rate for January remains steady at 5.0 percent. In January, more than 28,843 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Palm Beach County and the state's other 24 regional workforce boards.

Source