February 2020 Data Employment Report
Miami-Dade County Jobs Data
NOTE FROM THE MIAMI-DADE BEACON COUNCIL:
In order to effectively re-calibrate the previous year’s data and establish benchmarks, both January and February Unemployment Rates are reported in March. March 2020 data will be released later in April, on the standard one-month delay given all reporting is backward-looking.
Given the present economic climate, we wanted to call attention to the timing for this report. As the data focuses on February 2020 (and its comparison to the prior year), the analysis does not reflect the economic realities the world now finds itself in due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). While we are proud of the record-breaking unemployment numbers reported for the third month in a row, we know that the reality of Miami-Dade County’s present economic climate in the wake of this global pandemic will likely drive very different results in the months to come. This report does not speak to those challenges, but rather recognizes another month of historically low unemployment – something our community will work to re-establish and come together to mitigate the long-term impact of COVID-19 on our businesses, workforce and local economy as a whole.
The numbers analyzed
In February 2020, Miami-Dade County continued to have the lowest unemployment rate in its history (not seasonally adjusted) at 1.5 percent. Miami-Dade County had the lowest unemployment rate in Florida in February 2020. The County created 12,000 new nonagricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted), from February 2019 to February 2020 which was a 1.0 percent increase.
The highest job creation occurred in Leisure and Hospitality (4,200), Education & Health Services (3,800), Professional & Business Services (2,400), Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities (2,400), Retail Trade (2,100), Information (700), and Other Services (500). The graph below shows the payroll data since February 2018.
| Sector | February 2019- February 2020 | January 2020 – February 2020 |
| Leisure and Hospitality | +4,200 (+2.9%) | +2,900 (+2.0%) |
| Education & Health Services | +3,800 (+2.0%) | +3,300 (+1.7%) |
| Professional & Business Services | +2,400 (+1.3%) | +3,100 (+1.7%) |
| Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities | +2,400 (+2.9%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Retail Trade | +2,100 (+1.5%) | -800 (-0.5%) |
| Information | +700 (+3.4%) | +200 (+1.0%) |
| Other Services | +500 (+1.0%) | +700 (+1.4%) |
| Construction | -300 (-0.6%) | -100 (-0.2%) |
| Financial Activities | -400 (-0.5%) | +600 (+0.7%) |
| Total Government | -400 (-0.3%) | -600 (-0.4%) |
| Manufacturing | -1,300 (-3.1%) | -100 (-0.2%) |
| Wholesale Trade | -1,800 (-2.4%) | +300 (+0.4%) |
The unemployment rate of 1.5 percent compared to last year February was a 1.1 percentage point lower unemployment rate at 2.6 percent in February 2019. Compared to January 2019 there was no percentage point change from the unemployment rate at 1.5 percent. Below the graph compares the unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County with that of the United States since February 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 sixteen months the United States had a higher unemployment rate than Miami-Dade County.
In February 2020, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County (taking seasonal fluctuations in the labor force into consideration) was 1.8 percent, which is 1.1 percentage point lower than in February 2019.
| February 2020 Unemployment Rate (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | February 2019 to February 2020 | |
| Miami-Dade County | 1.5% | -1.1% |
| Palm Beach County | 3.0% | -0.4% |
| Broward County | 2.9% | -0.4% |
| Florida | 2.8% | -0.5% |
| United States | 3.8% | -0.3% |
From the data and analysis above, we saw improvement in the local economy for the month of February 2020. 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.
