Central Florida employment improves as state unemployment holds steady

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s unemployment rate remained at 4.7% in March, unchanged from the previous month, indicating a slowdown in hiring as the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continues.

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“We are still experiencing the effects of the pandemic, and this of course varies across the state, and will certainly vary by those who are impacted by different industries,” said Adrienne Johnston of the Department of Economic Opportunity in a Friday news conference. “We are just not quite back to the level that we were at, at the beginning of last year.”

In February of 2020, Florida’s unemployment rate was 3.3%, but shot up to 4.9% in March of 2020.

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The state numbers released on Friday show Florida now below the rate of March 2020, but still a point-and-a-half above the pre-pandemic low.

Leisure and hospitality services saw a significant rebound from February to March in Central Florida.

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While the industry is still well below pre-pandemic levels, a surge in hiring helped lower the unemployment rates in Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties.

In total, those counties gained 9,100 jobs, although still down more than 19% from pre-pandemic employment.

Cox Media Group