August 2019 Employment Report
The numbers analyzed
In August 2019, Miami-Dade County area was the second largest metro area in year-over-the-year job gains in Florida, following the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area. The County created 28,500 new nonagricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted), from August 2018 to August 2019 which was a 2.4 percent increase. The highest job creation occurred in Education & Health Services (11,100), with most jobs created in the healthcare industry. Job creation also occurred in Professional & Business Services (5,600), Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities (4,800), Construction (2,300), Leisure and Hospitality (2,200), Other Services (1,900), Wholesale Trade (1,100), Manufacturing (400), and Total Government (400). Between July 2019 and August 2019, Total Government added 11,700 new jobs. This is the result of Miami-Dade County Public Schools starting its academic year and therefore rehiring teachers and staff. The graphs below show the payroll data since October 2017.
| Sector | August 2018- August 2019 | July 2019 – August 2019 |
| Education & Health Services | +11,100 (+6.0%) | +2,500 (+1.3%) |
| Professional & Business Services | +5,600 (+3.1%) | +1,300 (+0.7%) |
| Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities | +4,800 (+6.3%) | +1,100 (+1.4%) |
| Construction | +2,300 (+4.4%) | -300 (-0.5%) |
| Leisure and Hospitality | +2,200 (+1.5%) | +500 (+0.3%) |
| Other Services | +1,900 (+3.7%) | +500 (+0.9%) |
| Wholesale Trade | +1,100 (+1.5%) | -400 (-0.5%) |
| Manufacturing | +400 (+1.0%) | -300 (-0.7%) |
| Total Government | +400 (+0.3%) | +11,700 (+8.9%) |
| Information | -400 (-2.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Retail Trade | -400 (-0.3%) | -100 (-0.1%) |
| Financial Activities | -500 (-0.6%) | 0 (0.0%) |
The not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County was 3.5 in August 2019. Compared to last year August there was a 0.5 percentage point decrease from the unemployment rate at 4.0 percent. Compared to July 2019 there was a 0.2 percentage point increase from the unemployment rate at 3.3 percent. Below the graph compares the unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County with that of the United States since October 2017. 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 ten months the United States had a higher unemployment rate than Miami-Dade County.
In August 2019, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County (taking seasonal fluctuations in the labor force into consideration) was 3.2 percent, which is 0.4 percentage point lower than in August 2018.
| August 2019 Unemployment Rate (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | August 2018 to August 2019 Unemployment Rate Change (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |
| Miami-Dade County | 3.5% | -0.5% |
| Palm Beach County | 3.7% | -0.1% |
| Broward County | 3.3% | -0.1% |
| Florida | 3.5% | -0.2% |
| United States | 3.8% | -0.1% |
From the data and analysis above, we see continued improvement in the local economy. Nevertheless, the community needs to remain focused on job-creation projects in targeted industries. 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.
