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Hernando Today

Unemployment barely changes

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By TONY HOLT | Hernando Today

Published: November 20, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - The unemployment rate in Hernando County barely changed in October, but it did so for the better.

In September, the local jobless numbers were at 13.9 percent.

The latest numbers, which were released Friday by the Agency for Workforce Innovation, showed Hernando County dipping to 13.8 percent and the number of unemployed workers dropping from 8,812 to 8,664.

That decline is due mostly to the reduction in the local labor force.

That trend is being seen in most counties across Florida, based on AWI statistics.

"Individuals are leaving the labor force," said AWI economist Rebecca Rust. "Some are giving up hope. Some are going back to school. Some are retiring. Some may have left the state and gone elsewhere."

In Florida, roughly 25,000 people left the labor force from September to October. During the last 12 months, more than 140,000 have left, Rust said.

Residents ages 16 and older who are working or actively seeking work make up the labor force. Full-time students, stay-at-home parents, people on disability and retirees are not included.

The October jobless numbers are the worst in Florida since June 1975. In May of that year, it reached 11.9 percent – the highest in the past four decades.

The state unemployment rate is expected move upward until the second quarter of 2010. Economists have predicted it will peak at 11.4.

"We're not forecasting it to reach (1975 levels) and we hope that it doesn't," Rust said.

Economists think the state's jobless rate will not dip below 6 percent again until 2019.

Hernando has the fifth-highest unemployment out of Florida's 67 counties.

Flagler (16.1), Hendry (15.7), Indian River (14.9) and St. Lucie (14.7) counties rank higher, according to AWI.

The October unemployment rate for the Tampa metropolitan area was 11.7 percent.

Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties had jobless rates of 12.5, 11.6 and 11.2, respectively.

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