Florida Jobless Rate Ticked Up Slightly In May

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) = While Florida's jobless rate ticked up slightly last month, it was nowhere near where it was last May.

Unemployment in May was 4.9 percent or 0.1 percentage point above April's rate. The federal unemployment rate was 5.8 percent.

Florida's unemployment rate in May 2020 was 14.2 percent — the highest monthly rate of the year as Florida grappled with the coronavirus pandemic. It began steadily dropping as Gov. Ron DeSantis began lifting restrictions on businesses, bars, and restaurants.

Last month, there were 503,000 jobless Floridians out of a workforce of 10.3 million, according to the Department of Economic Opportunity.

Monroe County had the state's lowest unemployment rate at 3.1%, followed by St. Johns County at 3.2 percent and Wakulla County at 3.5 percent.

Miami-Dade County had the highest unemployment rate at 6.7 percent, followed by Hamilton and Osceola counties at 6.6 percent each.

Unemployment