Florida's Governor Crows About Jobs In Ormond

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Ormond Beach, FL - Florida’s unemployment holds steady even as it grows slightly in the Daytona Beach area.

Figures released today by the state Department of Economic Opportunity show Florida's unemployment rate for June 2018 at 3.8%, the same as it was in May.

In Volusia County, unemployment grew half a percentage point from May to June, but the current 4.0% is still half a percent better than the 4.5% posted the prior June.

It was a similar story in Flagler County, with unemployment growing from 3.8% to 4.3% between May and June. That was before Sea Ray's recent announcement to close its Flagler Beach plant due to declining yacht sales, putting hundreds out of work.

An estimated 387,000 Floridians were out of work in June, 4,000 fewer than in May. In Volusia, it was 10,268 who were out of work in June, 1,332 fewer than the month prior. Flagler's unemployed number rose by 258 in that same time frame.

Florida Governor Rick Scott (left of photo), who held a news conference at Hull’s Seafood in Ormond Beach to announce the numbers, touted the creation of 16,900 private-sector jobs over the past month.

"That's a big month," Scott added.

The Republican also formally recognized Jimmy Hull (right of photo) - the owner of Hull's Seafood - for a recent expansion at his State Road 40/Granada Boulevard location which created 40 new jobs.

"If you go back to 2010, we had so many people out of work," Scott noted. "40 more people get the chance to live the dream of this country. The dream of this country starts with people being able to support themselves and that starts with a job."

The state’s unemployment figure bettered the national mark, which rose from 3.8 percent to 4 percent from May to June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Florida was one of 38 states, as well as the District of Columbia, that had no changes in their unemployment rates.

Over the past year, Florida ranked third in terms of overall job creation, with 170,500 new jobs, trailing 359,500 new jobs in Texas and 269,100 in California, the U.S. Bureau of Statistics reported.

The lowest jobless marks last month in Florida were found in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metropolitan statistical area at 3.1 percent, followed by Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford at 3.5 percent.

The highest unemployment rates for metropolitan statistical areas were in The Villages, at 5.7 percent, and Homosassa Springs, at 5.6 percent. Next highest was the Sebring metropolitan statistical area at 5.4 percent.

The statewide unemployment rate was seasonally adjusted, while the rates for the metropolitan statistical areas were not adjusted.