Florida Job Growth Rate 6 Times Faster than the Nation’s

Florida’s job growth rate was six times faster than the country’s as a whole in November, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced on Friday.

“Our job growth rate is six times faster than the rest of the nation because we’ve worked hard to keep Florida open and protect the jobs of individual Floridians,” DeSantis said, attributing the success to pro-freedom policies which have allowed Floridians to continue to work while blue states, many of which existed in extended lockdowns, continue to implement coercive policies, forcing people to choose between their jobs and a shot. DeSantis went on to say:

Because we have protected their livelihoods, Floridians are confident in finding work and operating their own businesses. We will continue to focus on our state’s foundation of freedom to ensure that Florida remains a leader in economic growth and Floridians are able to succeed.

The Sunshine State gained 51,100 jobs (0.6 percent) this month, compared to the nation, which gained 210,000 jobs (0.1 percent) in the same time period.

According to the governor’s office:

The state of Florida also experienced tremendous labor force growth, adding 42,000 people into the labor force. The state’s labor force has increased by 6.1% over the year compared to the national labor force increase of 0.9% over the same time period. Florida added 470,000 private sector jobs over the year, increasing by 6.4% and exceeding the national private sector job growth by 2.0 percentage points.

Also supporting Florida’s job growth is a business climate that supports the economy. For the fifth year in a row, Florida is ranked number four in the nation in the 2022 State Business Tax Climate Index published by the Tax Foundation, and is the only large state in the top 5. Florida’s standing contrasts with other large states that consistently remain in the bottom tier: states like California (#48) and New York (#49) are consistently at the bottom of the State Business Tax Climate Index in the nation. Florida maintains a competitively low top corporate tax rate and has no personal income tax.

Specifically, Florida’s unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percent over the last month, clocking in at 4.5 percent. Additionally, the state’s labor force growth “represents a 6.1% increase over the year compared to 0.9% nationally,” according to the governor’s office, which also noted that Florida businesses added 46,700 private sector jobs in the last month.

The news comes as DeSantis continues to promote pro-freedom policies in the state of Florida, recently signing legislation in Brandon, Florida — a nod to the “Let’s Go, Brandon!” movement — to protect individuals from losing their jobs over vaccine mandates.