Florida’s high jobless rate causes another drop in consumer confidence
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s consumer confidence fell in March by three points to 70 as the state’s bleak unemployment rate cast doubts about the long-term health of the economy and people’s ability to make major household purchases, according to a new University of Florida survey.
“The decline in optimism is almost certainly related to persistent elevated levels of unemployment in Florida and the perception that jobs are neither secure nor widely available,” said Chris McCarty, survey director of UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
New unemployment figures released this week show Florida’s jobless rate for February was 12.2 percent, the highest since the state began keeping count in 1970. It exceeded the previous record of 11.9 percent set in both May 1975 and January of this year.
Most economists expect Florida’s unemployment to continue to rise over the next several months, in contrast to national unemployment, which has at least temporarily declined, McCarty said. The national unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in February, 2.5 percent lower than in Florida.
- Consumer confidence
- Economy
- Employment
- Florida data
- Labor force
- National data
- UF Survey Research Center
- Unemployment