Governor Rick Scott: Orlando Continues to Lead the State in Job Creation

Statement

Governor Rick Scott announced today that the Orlando area added 47,000 new private-sector jobs over the year in March, the highest number of new jobs among all Florida metro areas for three consecutive months. In addition, the Orlando area's unemployment rate declined by 0.8 percentage point over the year to 4.3 percent in March.

Governor Scott said, "The Orlando area added 47,000 new jobs this year and continues to lead the state in job creation, which is great news for local families. We have cut taxes over 55 times since 2010 and worked each day to help grow jobs for our families, and we will continue to do all we can to make Florida a nationwide leader in job creation."

In March, the industries with the largest job gains over the year in the Orlando area were leisure and hospitality with 12,900 new jobs; professional and business services with 9,800 new jobs; construction with 8,300 new jobs; and trade, transportation and utilities with 7,500 new jobs. The Orlando area had the second-highest job demand in Florida in March with 36,632 openings, and the second-highest overall demand for high-wage, high-skilled, in-demand STEM occupations with 10,451 openings in March.

Since 2010, Florida businesses have created 1,061,700 new jobs. Florida businesses created 225,300 private-sector jobs over the year in March, exceeding the nation's private-sector job growth rate for the fourth consecutive year. Florida's statewide unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in March, while 39,029 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Central Florida and the state's other 24 regional workforce boards.

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