Florida Led Nation In Job Growth In January

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — The Sunshine State started off the new year by putting lots of people back to work.

According to new federal jobless reports, Florida led the nation in job growth in January.

Florida's unemployment rate dropped slightly to 5 percent in January, just a tick higher than the national jobless rate of 4.9 percent.

Governor Rick Scott's office said the state added 32,200 jobs that month. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that this was the highest number of jobs added by any state in January. Texas was second with 31,400 jobs added.

Scott announced the new jobless numbers during a stop in Orlando at Orion Technologies.

The Miami area added 23,300 new private-sector jobs in January over the year, according to the governor's office. It also posted an 5.6 percent unemployment rate.

"More than 23,000 new jobs were added and the unemployment rate continued to drop in the Miami area, which is great news. Our hard work to cut $1 billion in taxes over the past two years has helped our economy grow and add over one million jobs in five years," said Scott in a statement.

Fort Lauderdale area added 27,200 private-sector jobs over the year in January and had an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent.

Monroe County continues to have the lowest unemployment rate at 3.3 percent. Hendry County had the highest jobless rate at 8.4 percent.