April 2020 Employment Report
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The numbers analyzed
In April 2020, Miami-Dade County unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) was 11.9 percent. The County had a reduction of 145,900 nonagricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted), from April 2019 to April 2020 which was a 12.0 percentage decrease.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, there has been a sharp decline in payroll jobs throughout most industries. The sectors most affected are Leisure and Hospitality (-63,100), Professional and Business Services (-21,700), Education and Health Services (-14,600), Retail Trade (-14,200) and Other Services (-11,400). The most stable sectors in the past 12 months are Information (-200), Financial Activities (-700), and Total Government (-900). The graph below shows the payroll data since April 2018.
| Sector | April 2019- April 2020 | March 2020 – April 2020 |
| Information | -200 (-1.0%) | -1,200 (-5.7%) |
| Financial Activities | -700 (-0.9%) | -800 (-1.0%) |
| Total Government | -900 (-0.6%) | -3,000 (-2.0%) |
| Construction | -2,400 (-4.5%) | -2,600 (-4.9%) |
| Wholesale Trade | -3,900 (-5.3%) | -2,900 (-4.0%) |
| Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities | -6,400 (-7.7%) | -8,800 (-10.2%) |
| Manufacturing | -6,400 (-15.2%) | -4,800 (-11.8%) |
| Other Services | -11,400 (-22.5%) | -11,100 (-22.1%) |
| Retail Trade | -14,200 (-10.0%) | -17,900 (-12.3%) |
| Education & Health Services | -14,600 (-7.6%) | -18,700 (-9.5%) |
| Professional & Business Services | -21,700 (-12.0%) | -23,900 (-13.0%) |
| Leisure and Hospitality | -63,100 (-42.9%) | -58,600 (-41.1%) |
The unemployment rate of 11.9 percent compared to last year was 9.4 percentage points higher than the unemployment rate at 2.5 percent in April 2019. Compared to March 2020 there was an 8.1 percentage point increase from the unemployment rate at 3.8 percent. Below the graph compares the unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County with that of the United States since April 2018. It shows that Miami-Dade County was tracking the unemployment rate of the United States at a slightly higher rate until November 2018. For the last eighteen months the United States had a higher unemployment rate than Miami-Dade County.
In April 2020, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County (taking seasonal fluctuations in the labor force into consideration) was 10.3 percent, which is 7.6 percentage points higher than in April 2019.
| April 2020 Unemployment Rate (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | April 2019 to April 2020 | |
| Miami-Dade County | 11.9% | +9.4% |
| Palm Beach County | 13.9% | +10.9% |
| Broward County | 14.5% | +11.7% |
| Florida | 13.3% | +10.4% |
| United States | 14.4% | +11.1% |
From the data and analysis above, we saw a sharp deterioration in the local economy for the month of April 2020 due to the global impact of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the community needs to remain focused on job-retention projects in targeted industries, as well as all sectors. These industries have been identified as the Miami-Dade County industries most able to create additional well-paying job opportunities, leading to an improved quality of life for Miami-Dade County residents. The Miami-Dade Beacon Council continues to aggressively work on attracting new companies to our community and work on the expansion and retention of existing business. For more information, visit www.beaconcouncil.com.
The job creation numbers are derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics Program (CES), and only account for non-farm payroll jobs. However, the unemployment rates are derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program (LAUS), which includes farm payroll jobs as well as self-employed workers.
In addition, the federal government typically conducts interviews in sample households to determine the unemployment rate. Miami-Dade County is one of six metropolitan areas in the United States that uses a different method solely based on a statistical model derived from several data sets.
