Miami Herald: Florida unemployment hits 11.5 percent

Dec 18, 2009

The Miami Herald published this article on December 18, 2009.

BY SCOTT ANDRON
sandron@MiamiHerald.com

Florida’s unemployment rate continued to rise last month, up two-tenths of a point to 11.5 percent, the state labor department said Friday.

It was the highest rate since May 1975.

Miami-Dade County’s rate was 11.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Those numbers are adjusted to remove the effect of normal seasonal changes, such as summer layoffs in the tourism industry. Adjusted numbers aren’t available for other Florida counties, but here are the raw figures for South Florida:

  • Broward, 10.1 percent.
  • Monroe, 7.3 percent.
  • Palm Beach, 11.7 percent.