The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) has announced that the unemployment rate for the Jacksonville region increased slightly from 2.3 percent in April to 2.4 percent in May.
Of the 856,248 people counted as part of the area’s workforce in May, there were 20,324 unemployed residents in May – again, up slightly from the 19,194 unemployed residents in April.
“May saw a continuation of a relatively low unemployment rate for our region, which has hovered at or below 2.5 percent since March of this year – and well below the 4.1 percent unemployment rate we were experiencing in May a year ago,” said CareerSource Northeast Florida President Bruce Ferguson.
According to DEO’s May report, St. Johns County continued to have the lowest unemployment rate in Northeast Florida (1.9 percent) – followed by Nassau County (2.0 percent), Clay County (2.2 percent), Baker County (2.3 percent), Duval County (2.5 percent) and Putnam County (3.6 percent).
“Compared to other metro areas in Florida, the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had the fastest annual job growth rate in professional and business services (up 11.9 percent, representing 13,700 jobs) and in the mining, logging, and construction sector (up 8.1 percent, representing 3,900 jobs) from May 2021 to May 2022,” Ferguson said.
The most openings among all industries in the region include first-line supervisors of retail sales workers (1,524 positions), registered nurses (1,510 positions), retail salespersons (1,486 positions), stockers and order fillers (943 positions) and software developers (908 positions). The majority of the sought-after jobs in the professional, scientific and technical services industry regionally include marketing, web development/information technology and engineering positions.
In May, CareerSource NEFL received nearly 3,000 open job positions from its partner-employers.
CareerSource NEFL will hold its next Virtual Regional Job Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, July 21 and will be conducting several in-person job fairs throughout the month of June. In collaboration with other CareerSource Regions in Florida, the organization will also host a Virtual Federal Employment July Workshop from 9 – 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 13. For more information about these and other job workshops and employer recruitment events, visit the events page at https://careersourcenortheastflorida.com/events/.
For those looking for a job, CareerSource NEFL can connect them with employers that are hiring now and also offers assessments and training to help them gain the skills needed to put them on a new career track. To learn how CareerSource NEFL can help secure that next career, visit www.careersourcenefl.com or call 904-356-JOBS (5627).
Job seekers are encouraged to visit www.careersourcenefl.com, where they can schedule a virtual appointment – or schedule one at their nearest career center location. They can also schedule an appointment by phone at (904) 356-JOBS (5627).
CareerSource NEFL is responsible for providing a trained workforce to businesses in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties. For more information, visit www.careersourcenefl.com.