Florida's March Employment
Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, and
Union Counties
Columbia County, FL
(posted April 16, 2010 11:45 am)
(1 comment)
From combined sources
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for
March 2010 is 12.3 percent. This represents 1,138,000
jobless out of a labor force of 9,269,000. The
unemployment rate is up marginally from the February
revised rate of 12.2 percent, and up 2.7 percentage
points from the March 2009 rate of 9.6 percent. March’s
unemployment rate is the highest in the recorded series
going back to 1970. Florida’s unemployment rate remains
higher than the national rate, which is 9.7 percent in
March.
Workforce Region 7 - Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, and
Union Counties
The unemployment rate in the Florida Crown Workforce
region (Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, and Union Counties)
was 11.2 percent in March 2010. This was an
increase of 3.1 percentage points from the region’s year
ago rate. In March 2010, the region’s unemployment
rate was 0.8 percentage point below the state rate of
12.0 percent. Out of a labor force of 51,102 there
were 5,721 unemployed region residents.
Employment by industry in the Florida Crown Workforce
region totaled 30,899 in September 2009 (the latest
available data). Industry employment declined by
4.1 percent over the year, compared to -6.4 percent for
the state.
The Florida Crown region lost 1,309 jobs in September
2009 over the year. Among industries, education and
health services added 145 jobs, natural resources and
mining added 63 jobs and professional and business
services added 38 jobs. The greatest job losses
were posted by: manufacturing (-505 jobs); construction
(-362 jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (-290
jobs); leisure and hospitality (-187 jobs); financial
activities (-80 jobs); government (-60 jobs); other
services (-37 jobs); and information (-34 jobs).
The annual job growth rate in education and health
services (+3.6 percent) exceeded that of the state (+1.5
percent).
Two of the region’s industry sectors, natural
resources and mining (+13.0 percent) and professional
and business services (+1.7 percent) had positive job
growth in the area but declined in the state.
