Miami-Dade's Employment Numbers Show Growth in Key Sectors

Miami, FL – (November 20, 2015) – Miami-Dade’s unemployment rate dipped to 5.9 percent in October, down from 6.3 last month, according to statistics released Friday.

“Our economy continues to recover,” The Beacon Council President & CEO Larry K. Williams said. “Miami-Dade also added the most jobs in the state since Oct. 2014 in the financial activities and information sector, which includes higher-paying, knowledge-based fields.This is great news for all of our partners in academia and the public and private sectors who are working so hard to align curriculum with the needs of today’s employers. “

Miami-Dade numbers analyzed

Miami-Dade County added 14,700 new nonagricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted) or a 1.3 percent increase from October 2014 to October 2015. Miami-Dade County continues to show increased year over year gains in the State of Florida. Improvements in the non-farm payroll jobs can be found in a variety of sectors. And between September 2015 and October 2015, Miami-Dade County increased nonagricultural payroll jobs by 6,900 or a 0.6% increase.

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from October 2014 to October 2015 decreased by 0.4 percentage point, to 5.9 percent from 6.3 percent. The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in October 2015 decreased 0.4 percentage points, to 5.9 percent from 6.3 percent in September 2015.

In October 2015, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County (taking seasonal fluctuations in the labor force into consideration) was 5.8 percent, which is 0.6 percentage points lower than a year ago (6.4 in October 2014) and unchanged from September 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 October 2014 to October 2015 most industry sectors saw job improvements. The improvements in these sectors contributed to the gain of 14,700 new nonagricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted). Notably, Total Private, Service Providing, Financial Activities, Professional and Business Services, Trade, Transportation, and Utilities, Information, Education and Health Services, and 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 October 2014 and October 2015 was Total Government (-1,300 jobs), Manufacturing (-500 jobs) and Construction (-2100 jobs).

Between September 2015 and October 2015, Miami-Dade County experienced an increase in the nonagricultural payroll jobs adding, 6,900 jobs. The few sectors that lost jobs from September 2015 to October 2015, include Manufacturing (-400 jobs), Wholesale Trade (-200), and Administrative waste (-500 jobs)

Other regions analyzed

The not-seasonally adjusted October 2015 unemployment rate for the State of Florida was 5.1 percent, which is 0.3 percentage points lower than September 2015 at 5.4 percentage points. From October 2014 to October 2015, Florida’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points (from 5.8 percent to 5.1 percent). The United States not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.8 percent in October 2015.

For Broward County, the unemployment rate in October 2015 was 4.7 percent, which were 0.2 percentage points lower than September 2015 and a decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared to October 2014. For Palm Beach County, the October 2015 unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, which were 0.4 percentage points lower than September 2015 at 5.3 percent, and a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to October 2014 at 5.4 percent.

The overall unemployment rate for the South Florida region (Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach MSA) in October 2015 was 5.3 percent, which is 0.3 percentage points lower than September 2015. A year ago, in October 2014, the South Florida unemployment rate was 5.8 percent. In terms of job creation in South Florida, the region gained 52,700 jobs or a 2.1 percent increase from October 2014 to October 2015. From September 2015 to October 2015, South Florida gained 24,400 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