Written by Miami Today on October 4, 2022
Miami-Dade County stands with San Francisco at the nation’s lowest unemployment among metropolitan divisions as workers in financial activities, in professional and business services, and in education and health services each reached new highs here, new federal data show.
The county along with San Francisco has the lowest unemployment rate, 2.3%, among the separately identifiable employment centers studied by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, August figures released last week show. All 38 divisions lowered unemployment year over year.
In the broader tri-county area, where the unemployment rate is 2.6%, the 5.7% increase in persons employed ranks behind only the 6.7% gain in the Dallas area and the 6.2% in Houston.
In Miami-Dade alone, the total labor force of 1,335 million persons is the largest since the outbreak of covid. The 2.3% unemployment is the same as July, up a tick from 2.1% in June. Total non-farm employment here now has increased by 6.8% in the past 12 months.
Most employment sectors boast substantial year-over-year gains. The largest percentage gainers are a 12.6% jump in manufacturing workers at 45,500 and the 12.4% gain in leisure and hospitality workers to 142,800, soaring back toward the county’s all-time high of 149,700 in February 2022, the month before covid hit.
Employment in professional and business services has expanded to 198,300, up 6.4% and the most ever in the county. Education and health services employment rose 6.2% to 204,300, also the most ever. The booming financial sector also has reached an all-time jobs high at 90,800, up 5.7% in the past year.
The trade, transportation and utilities sector also has large gains, up 8.9% in total workers to 321,100.
The only categories of work to actually decline in the 12 months are government jobs, down 1.5% to 137,000, and information, down a half percentage point to 20,700.
