TAMPA, Fla. — Gov. Rick Scott on Friday announced that the Tampa area added 31,900 new jobs in the past year.
- 31,900 new private-sector jobs added
- Unemployment dropped to 3.8 percent
- Tampa area remained first among state metro areas in job demand
Florida businesses created 19,000 new jobs in May, bringing up the number of private sector jobs to more than 1.5 million since December of 2010. This is the second-highest number of jobs among all Florida metro areas.
Florida's unemployment rate has continuously declined and has recently dropped to 3.8 percent. This is down 7 points from December of 2010 and is faster than the national average of 5.5 points.
Tampa remained first in the state with job demand with 43,349 openings. The highest growth in jobs were in hospitality, with 8,900 openings, and financial activities, with 8,500 openings. Last year, 124,000 people entered Florida's work force, a growth of 1.2 percent beating the national average of 1.1 percent.
Tampa also continues to rank first in the state with the number of high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations, with 14,455 openings.
To view the the May 2018 employment data, click here.