Employment levels in Florida recovered in October, the state said Friday, after September's Hurricane Irma, which sharply reduced that month's payroll count.
"Getting a report that's very normal is a good sign. The South Florida economy is bouncing back and that's exactly what we want to see," said Mekael Teshome, Florida economist for PNC Bank.
He said the region leisure and hospitality jobs even rose. "Tourists and even the snowbirds were not deterred by the storm," Teshome said.
In South Florida, Broward County continued to lead job growth in October, according to the monthly unemployment and job creation report released Friday.
Broward added 25,200 jobs, an increase of 3.1 percent over the year. The largest number, 9,800, was in education and health services. That was the highest annual job growth for education and health services in the state, according to Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity.
That followed by 4,200 jobs in construction; 3,500 in professional and business services; 2,300 in trade, transportation and utilities; 2,000 in government; 1,400 in other services, 800 in manufacturing; 600 in leisure and hospitality; 400 in financial activities; and 200 in information.
Florida's unemployment rate was 3.6 in October, down from 4.9 percent a year ago.
The state remains below the U.S. unemployment rate, which was 4.1 percent in October.
The number of jobs in Florida was about 8.66 million in October, an increase of 197,500 jobs or 2.3 percent over a year ago, the state said.
