WASHINGTON: The Department of Economic Opportunity recently released Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January. At 6.3 percent, Holmes County’s rate is nearly a percentage point up from 5.4 in December. Washington County’s rate also experienced a nearly one-point rise, from 5.2 in December to 6.1 for January.
Statewide in January, there were 520,000 unemployed Floridians out of a labor force of 9.97 million. Florida’s unemployment rate of 5.2 percent is slightly higher than the U.S. unemployment rate, which came in at 4.8 percent in January. That number also reflects a one-point rise from December’s statewide average of 4.7. The overall unemployment rate in the CareerSource Chipola region, comprised of Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty and Washington Counties was 6.0 percent in January, 0.4 percent higher than the region’s rate a year ago of 5.6 percent. Out of a labor force of 41,302 there were 2,471 unemployed residents in the region.
