Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) used Labor Day to remind Americans that the Sunshine State took steps to protect “the right of Floridians to earn a living” during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, which is continuing to pay off for the state and residents.
“This Labor Day, I am glad Florida protected the right of all Floridians to earn a living when many other states did not,” DeSantis said in an update posted to social media.
“Florida has more people employed than prior to the pandemic!” he celebrated:
Indeed, Florida was among the first states to prioritize getting Americans back to work during the pandemic as other states remained locked down, preventing what the government deemed “nonessential” workers from earning a living. The lockdowns triggered mass protests in some states across America, including Pennsylvania, where residents protested Gov. “Commie Tommy” Wolf (D).
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf speaks on stage (Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Geisinger Symposium).
“I mean, he’s a communist, and everything he has demonstrated for us today just proves that he is a communist,” one resident, Catherine Callahan, told Breitbart News of the governor’s threats against small business owners at the time.
“Threatening to take away licenses to open your business, your liquor licenses, et cetera. He is refusing to let people run their lives and feed their families,” she continued. “This is America. This is not Stalinist Russia. But he is trying to turn Pennsylvania into his own makeshift Stalinist Russia, and we won’t stand for it.”
But Florida reopened its state early on, defying critics. And as a result, Florida still reported fewer new cases of the coronavirus per capita than locked down blue states for months on end. And to this day, the Sunshine State is reaping the rewards, as the unemployment rate dropped to a historic low in July:
Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.7 percent in the month of July — the lowest since the start of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic in February 2020. According to the governor’s office, the state has only reached such a low three times “since Florida began recording unemployment data in 1976.”
The current rate reflects a 0.1 percent drop from June’s rate. But overall, Florida’s unemployment rate is 0.8 percent lower than the national unemployment rate, and has been since December 2020. The growth of Florida’s labor force also outpaced the country’s, growing by 0.2 percent over the last month, compared to the 0.1 percent loss nationally.
Further, the governor’s office noted that Florida’s labor force grew by 291,000, or 2.8 percent, between July 2021 and July 2022.
“July’s job numbers represent one of the largest month’s job gains over the past generation, and Florida continues to outpace the nation in labor force growth,” DeSantis said, again attributing the state’s economic success to “freedom-first policies.”
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