• Posted on Saturday, October 18, 2008
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Florida jobless rate, at 6.6 percent, is the worst since 1994

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Florida's unemployment rate was 6.6 percent last month, flat with revised figures for August, according to a state report released Friday.

It's the worst unemployment rate the state has seen since October 1994 and higher than the current national figure of 6.1 percent.

Florida lost 119,700 jobs over the past 12 months, according to the figures from the state Agency for Workforce Innovation.

Of those, 75,200 were in construction. Other major losers included employment services (29,500), retail (24,000), manufacturing (22,000) and finance and insurance (6,800).

Helping to offset those losses were gains in tourism (14,200) and government (9,800). The government category includes agencies such as public hospital districts as well as city and county halls.

The agency announced an August rate of 6.1 percent last month but revised it up half a point on Friday.

Read the full story at MiamiHerald.com.

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