September 2019 Employment Report

The numbers analyzed

In September 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 29,100 new nonagricultural payroll jobs (not seasonally adjusted), from September 2018 to September 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 (7,200), Construction (3,900), Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities (3,600), Wholesale Trade (2,100), Leisure and Hospitality (2,200), Other Services (1,600), and Total Government (900). The graph below shows the payroll data since October 2017.

SectorSeptember 2018- September 2019August 2019 – September 2019
Education & Health Services+11,100 (+5.9%)+1,800 (+0.9%)
Professional & Business Services+7,200 (+4.0%)0 (0.0%)
Construction+3,900 (+7.4%)+2,100 (+3.9%)
Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities+3,600 (+4.7%)-600 (-0.7%)
Wholesale Trade+2,100 (+2.9%)+1,300 (+1.7%)
Leisure and Hospitality+2,200 (+1.5%)-900 (-0.6%)
Other Services+1,600 (+3.1%)0 (0.0%)
Total Government+900 (+0.6%)+500 (+0.3%)
Information-200 (-1.0%)0 (0.0%)
Manufacturing-600 (-1.4%)-700 (-1.7%)
Financial Activities-1,300 (-1.6%)-1,000 (-1.2%)
Retail Trade-1,600 (-1.1%)-1,200 (-0.8%)

The not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Miami-Dade County was 3.1 percent in September 2019. Compared to last year September there was a 0.7 percentage point decrease from the unemployment rate at 3.8 percent. Compared to August 2019 there was a 0.4 percentage point decrease from the unemployment rate at 3.5 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 eleven months the United States had a higher unemployment rate than Miami-Dade County.

In September 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 September 2018.

 September 2019
Unemployment Rate
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)
September 2018 to September 2019
Unemployment Rate Change
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Miami-Dade County3.1%-0.7%
Palm Beach County3.2%-0.2%
Broward County2.8%-0.3%
Florida3.0%-0.3%
United States3.3%-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 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.