Job growth was strong nationally in October but in Florida we struggled to get back on track after Irma:
Bottom Line: Nationally 235,000 private sector jobs were added in October. Another really solid month and a big bounce back after the hit many states took after the impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma. In Florida the news wasn't quite as good - especially in a particular industry. According to Florida's ADP Report we added 7,000 jobs in October. Better than a sharp stick in the eye but also a weak month for jobs growth as we clearly struggled to get back on track after Irma. Here were highlights:
By Select Industries
Professional and Business Services 1,700
Trade, Transportation and Utilities 600
Manufacturing 200
Natural Resources/Mining and Construction -2,300
Were it not for the huge negative in natural resources/mining and construction we'd have had a halfway decent month of job growth but the loss of more than two thousand jobs in that industry, the worst since the recession, ensured Florida would trail the progress made elsewhere. Florida accounted for 3% of the job growth and we have 6.3% of the population. On one hand it's arguable that it's impressive that we added jobs at all after Irma. On the other hand, the question is if we'll get back on track in November or if the hurricane took a toll on our state that will take a while to really recover from economically.