County Unemployment Hits 7.5 Percent

Hernando County's unemployment rate keeps inching upward, but the gap between it and the top spot is widening.

Hernando had the seventh-highest unemployment at 7.5 percent in June, according to figures released Friday by the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI). Hendry County, located southwest of Lake Okeechobee, had the worst rating by far at 10.3 percent.

The statistics in March had Hernando ranked second worst in Florida, slightly behind Flagler County.

"Nobody will say (7.5) is good," said Dave Hamilton, a spokesman for the Pasco Hernando Workforce Board. He thinks there is little reason to be optimistic judging from the numbers.

"While we were feeling the misery during the first part of the year, some counties have come up to join us," he said.

Hendry is followed by Flagler at 8.5 percent; St. Lucie County, 8.1; Indian River County, 8.0; Charlotte County, 7.6; and Lee County (7.5), according to AWI.

Walton County, located in Florida's Panhandle, has the state's lowest unemployment rate at 3.4 percent. Even still, it has shot up nearly 31 percent since last year.

"Those counties with near full employment a year ago are also suffering," Hamilton said.

Hernando's neighbor to the east, Sumter County, has the state's second-best employment. Only 3.8 percent of its labor force is out of work.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported unemployment has risen in Florida in mostly all the major industries - including construction, manufacturing, transportation and professional business services.

Valarie Pianta, a spokeswoman for the Hernando County Office of Business Development, said while the employment rate increased slightly since last month - 0.1 percent - there have been some encouraging signs for the area.

"We wound up with 169 more employed than last month," she said. "That's certainly a move in a positive direction."

Hamilton said Hernando County reached its apex two years ago when residential construction was at its highest. Today, most of those laborers are either unemployed, moved on to another line of work or are commuting hundreds of miles for jobs.

When construction falls, it is only a matter of time before those trends show up in other industries.

"When a sector as big as construction fails, it affects other sectors in the community," Hamilton said.

Hernando County's plan all along has been to add new layers to the local workforce, said Pianta. What was once a construction- and retail-heavy community now has more industry.

"We don't really try to attract businesses in a vertical way entirely," she said. "We really try to keep it diverse."