Last month, Florida’s seasonally adjusted employment rate was at 2.5%, making it 0.1% lower than the November 2022 rate and 1.0% lower than the December 2021 rate of 3.5%. Florida’s employment rate was 1.0% lower than the national rate of 3.5%. In addition, Florida’s December 2022 private sector over-the-year growth rate was 5.3%, which is 2.0% higher than the national job growth rate of 3.3%.
End-of-Year Trends in the National Job Market
In December 2022, the national unemployment rate went down to 3.5%. Decreasing the number of unemployed people in the United States to 5.7 million. Long-term unemployed people (meaning those without a job for 27 weeks or more) declined by 146,000 to 1.1 million at the end of 2022. In 2021, the long-term unemployment number was 2.0 million, accounting for 18.5% of all unemployed people. Careers that saw notable job growth in December include leisure and hospitality, health care, construction, and social assistance.
December 2022 National Employment Status:
Full-time: 86.3% (down from 86.5% a year ago)
Voluntary part-time: 11.2% (up from 10.4% a year ago)
Part-time for economic reasons: 1.8% (down from 2.4% a year ago)
North Central Florida Labor Numbers
Last month, Alachua County’s labor force was 143,887, and employment was 140,968. The county’s unemployment level was 2,919 at a 2.0% unemployment rate. Nationally, the number of jobs rose by 3.0% over the year. Alachua County’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.6% since November 2022 and 0.4% since December 2021. Nonagricultural employment in Gainesville was 155,000 in December 2022 and 150,700 in December 2021, increasing engagement by 4,300 at a rate of 3.5%.
CareerSource North Central Florida, a one-stop center for employment support in the North Central Florida region, partners with local training providers in the North Central Florida area to address the need for workers through pilot programs for rapid industry credentials.
We hope to be an integral part of helping increase the employment rate even further through apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and more opportunities.
If you are interested in learning more about available jobs in the North Central Florida area, please email [email protected].