Polk jobless rate drops to 6.4 percent

Florida’s unemployment rate saw a modest year-to-year decrease in August, while Polk County experienced a more significant dip.

The state’s unemployment rate last month was 5.3 percent, which is a decrease from Florida’s 5.9 percent rate a year ago. It also lagged slightly behind the 5.1 percent national unemployment rate, according to data from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Gov. Rick Scott was pleased with the state’s performance.

“We want Florida to be the first in the nation for jobs,” Scott said in a statement. “And with more than 940,000 private-sector jobs added since December 2010, we are well on our way to reaching that goal.”

Meanwhile, Polk’s 6.4 percent unemployment rate in August represented a dip of 1.5 percentage points from last year’s 7.9 percent rate for the county. Of a labor force of 281,636, there were 18,150 unemployed Polk County residents.

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Source: John Ceballos, The Ledger