Florida’s unemployment rate ticked up for the second consecutive month in February.
FloridaCommerce released the February jobless figure, which came in at 4.6%. That’s up from the January unemployment rate of 4.5%.
It’s also the second straight month the Florida unemployment figure was higher than the national rate. The U.S. figure for February was 4.4%, 0.2 percentage points below Florida’s.
Prior to the last two months, Florida’s unemployment rate had been lower than the national rate for around five years, a source of pride for both Gov. Ron DeSantis and FloridaCommerce officials. Now, that trend appears to be reversing.
The Florida unemployment figure accounts for about 516,000 people who were unemployed out of a total labor force of 11.14 million. Florida lost 36,700 jobs from February 2025, which is a 0.4% decrease.
In February, there were 9.97 million people employed in nonagricultural jobs in Florida. That’s one of the few bright spots in the report, with that metric increasing by about 1,800 jobs from January.
FloridaCommerce, the state’s economic development bureau, is catching up on releasing unemployment figures following the federal government shutdown last year, disrupting data collection. The February jobless report was just issued after the January data was published earlier in April.
The February unemployment report showed a more significant drop in the year-over-year comparison. In February 2025, the jobless figure for Florida was 1 percentage point lower, coming in at 3.6%. FloridaCommerce officials say nine out of 10 major industries in the state saw negative job growth when compared to last year.
Professional and business services saw the biggest decrease in jobs, falling by 12,100 workers. State government positions weren’t far behind, falling by 11,100 jobs. One of Florida’s key industries, leisure and hospitality, also took a hit, falling by 10,300 jobs from February 2025.
Out of the 25 metropolitan areas FloridaCommerce tracks, 15 of them lost jobs when compared to last year. The West Palm Beach area saw the biggest decline, falling by 10,500 jobs, or a 1.5% slip. The Fort Lauderdale area fell by 9,400 jobs, a decline of 1%. And the Fort Myers area dropped by 4,600 jobs, down by 1.4%.
FloridaCommerce officials say March jobless figures should be released within the next few weeks.