TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7 percent in August, the state reported Friday.
The number, unchanged from July, is slightly less than the national rate of 3.9 percent.
In Metro Orlando, the August jobless rate was 3.4 percent, down from 3.6 percent in July.
The latest estimates say there are about 375,000 unemployed people in the state out of a workforce of more than 10.2 million.
Florida added 20,500 jobs in the past month, according to the report.
The state has added 220,200 total jobs since August 2017. During the same time period California added nearly 349,000 jobs while Texas added more than 394,500.
Florida’s overall growth rate for the last 12 months was 2.6 percent, which was 9th in the nation.
Okaloosa and St. Johns counties had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.9 percent. Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate at 8.3 percent followed by Hardee County at 6.2 percent.
