December Employment Report
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Unemployment rate hits a breaking record of 1.8%, lowest rate in the State of Florida
(Miami, Fl)- January 27, 2020- Miami-Dade County has created 25,900 new jobs in the past 12 months, while unemployment hits a breaking record of 1.8%, lowest rate in the State of Florida. The numbers show Miami-Dade County has a strong and diversified economy with Education and Trade & Logistics leading the way in the past year.
Miami-Dade County is successful as a community. In 1997, One Community One Goal, Miami-Dade’s economic development strategic plan identified seven target industries with the highest potential job growth and high wages, which included: Aviation, Banking & Finance, Creative Design, Hospitality & Tourism, Technology & Innovation, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Trade & Logistics. For over 20 years, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council has led community efforts to expand and strengthen these industries to continue to create jobs in all these sectors resulting in a diversified, strong economy with a large labor force.
The numbers analyzed
In December 2019, Miami-Dade County had the lowest unemployment rate in its history (not seasonally adjusted) at 1.8 percent. Miami-Dade County, together with Monroe County (the Florida Keys), had the lowest unemployment rate in Florida in December 2019.
In addition, the area was the third largest metro area in year-over-year job gains in Florida, following Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford and the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater. The County created 25,900 new non-agricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted), from December 2018 to December 2019, which was a 2.1 percent increase. In December 2019, Miami-Dade County reached the highest number payroll jobs it its history.
The highest job creation occurred in Education & Health Services (11,400), with most jobs created in the healthcare industry. Job creation also occurred in Professional & Business Services (4,400), Leisure and Hospitality (4,300), Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities (3,200), Total Government (2,400), Wholesale Trade (1,900), Construction (1,600), and Other Services (500). The graph below shows the payroll data since October 2017.
| Sector | December 2018- December 2019 | November 2019 – December 2019 |
| Education & Health Services | +11,400 (+6.8%) | -300 (-0.1%) |
| Professional & Business Services | +4,400 (+1.4%) | +900 (+0.5%) |
| Leisure and Hospitality | +4,300 (+2.3%) | +1,500 (+1.0%) |
| Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities | +3,200 (+3.9%) | +2,300 (+2.8%) |
| Total Government | +2,400 (+1.7%) | -1,600 (-1.1%) |
| Wholesale Trade | +1,900 (+2.6%) | +800 (+1.1%) |
| Construction | +1,600 (+3.0%) | -1,100 (-2.0%) |
| Other Services | +500 (+1.0%) | -300 (-0.6%) |
| Retail Trade | -100 (-0.1%) | +600 (+0.4%) |
| Information | -300 (-1.5%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Manufacturing | -1,600 (-3.8%) | +400 (+1.0%) |
| Financial Activities | -1,800 (-2.2%) | +100 (+0.1%) |
The unemployment rate of 1.8 percent compared to last year December was a 1.7 percentage point lower unemployment rate at 3.5 percent in December 2018. Compared to November 2019 there was a 0.9 percentage point decrease from the unemployment rate at 2.7 percent. Below the graph compares the unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County with that of the United States since November 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 twelve months the United States had a higher unemployment rate than Miami-Dade County.
In December 2019, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County (taking seasonal fluctuations in the labor force into consideration) was 2.8 percent, which is 0.7 percentage point lower than in December 2018.
| December 2019 Unemployment Rate (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | December 2018 to December 2019 | |
| Miami-Dade County | 1.8% | -0.7% |
| Palm Beach County | 2.7% | -0.5% |
| Broward County | 2.5% | -0.6% |
| Florida | 2.5% | -0.8% |
| United States | 3.4% | -0.3% |
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 industries most able to create additional well-paying job opportunities in Miami-Dade County, 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.
