Miami-Dade's Employment Numbers Continue to Show Growth

(Miami, FL – March 14, 2016) – Miami-Dade County’s unemployment rate dipped to 5.6 percent in January from 5.8 in December, and the county added 2.1 percent payroll jobs from January 2015 to January 2016, according to statistics released Monday.

“We are seeing year over year job growth in a range of industry sectors including Professional and Business Services (2.9 percent) and Education and Health Services (3.3 percent),” The Beacon Council President & CEO Larry K. Williams said. “The strength and diversity of our local economy was on full display at last week’s Key Ceremony which honored 53 new or expanding companies in Miami-Dade representing various industries, cultures, products, services, countries and demographics.”

 The numbers analyzed

Miami-Dade County created 23,300 new nonagricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted) which was a 2.1 percent increase from January 2015 to January 2016. Miami-Dade County continues to show year over year gains. Between December 2015 and January 2016, Miami-Dade County decreased nonagricultural payroll jobs by 14,700 or a 1.3 percent decrease. This decrease in jobs over the month may be attributed to an end in seasonal employment.

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from January 2015 to January 2016 decreased by 0.6 percentage point, to 5.6 percent from 6.2 percent. The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in January 2016 decreased 0.2 percentage points, to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in December 2015.

In January 2016, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County (taking seasonal fluctuations in the labor force into consideration) was 6.0 percent, which is 0.4 percentage points lower than a year ago (6.4 in January 2015) and 0.1 percentage point higher from December 2015.

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.

In Miami-Dade County, from January 2015 to January 2016, most industry sectors saw job improvements. The improvements in these sectors contributed to the gain of 23,300 new nonagricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted). Notably Financial Activities, Professional and Business Services, Trade, Transportation, and Utilities, Construction, Manufacturing, Education and Health Services, Leisure and Hospitality, and Other Services, all continue to experience significant gains after having lost a large portion of their workforce during the recession.

The only major sectors that lost jobs between January 2015 to January 2016 was Information (a sector that includes publishing industries, motion picture, broadcasting and telecommunications, information services and data processing)  (-300 jobs), Wholesale Trade (-100), and Local Government (-700 jobs).

Between December 2015 and January 2016, Miami-Dade County experienced a decrease in the nonagricultural payroll jobs by 14,700 jobs. This decrease in jobs may be attributed to an end in seasonal employment. The sectors that lost jobs from December 2015 to January 2016, include Construction (-800 jobs), Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-6,700 jobs) Information (-300 jobs), Financial Activities (-800 jobs), Professional and Business Services (-2,000 jobs), Education and Health Services (-2,700 jobs), Leisure and Hospitality (-900 jobs), Other Services (-500 jobs), Federal Government (-400 jobs) and Local Government (-100 jobs). 

The not-seasonally adjusted January 2016 unemployment rate for the State of Florida was 5.1 percent, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than December 2015 at 4.8 percentage points. From January 2015 to January 2016, Florida’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points (from 5.9 percent to 5.1 percent). The United States not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in January 2016.

For Broward County, the unemployment rate in January 2016 was 4.7 percent, which were 0.3 percentage points higher than December 2015 (4.4 percent), and a decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared to January 2015 (5.5 percent). For Palm Beach County, the January 2016 unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, which were 0.4 percentage points higher than December 2015 at 4.5 percent, and a decrease of 0.4 percentage points compared to January 2015 at 5.3 percent.

The overall unemployment rate for the South Florida region (Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach MSA) in January 2016 was 5.2 percent, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than December 2016 at 5.0 percent. A year ago, in January 2015, the South Florida unemployment rate was 5.8 percent. In terms of job creation in South Florida, the region gained 71,300 jobs or a 2.9 percent increase from January 2015 to January 2016. From December 2015 to January 2016, South Florida lost 29,400 nonagricultural payroll jobs.

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 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

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