Monitor Editor
STARKE— With a 2.9% December unemployment rate, Clay County led the area in an increasingly tight labor market.
Bradford County’s unemployment rate for December was 3.5% and Union’s was 3.0%.
However, because of its smaller work force, Union had the second-lowest number of people looking for a job in the state with 136. Only Lafayette County, with 93 people unemployed, had fewer people out of work.
Miami-Dade had the lowest unemployment rate in the state with 1.4%. Putnam County’s rate of 5.2% was the highest in Florida.
The statewide unemployment rate is 4.4%
Pam Whittle, president of the North Florida Chamber of Commerce said CareerSource of North Central Florida is holding frequent hiring events for the Florida Department of Corrections as well as for other organizations.
“We had a hiring event for Walmart last week,” she said. “They had openings in every department for every shift.”
Whittle said three people showed up for the event and all three were hired by the retailer.
“It’s to the point now where if you will just show up, you will get hired,” she said.
Whittle added that many larger employers now are offering signing bonuses, led locally by the Department of Corrections. She added that a local bank is also offering the bonuses.
However, there is a downside for workers in the plentiful job market.
Miami-Dade which had the lowest unemployment rate in the state last month, also recorded the biggest increase in rent prices for single-family residences in the U.S.
According to analytical firm CoreLogic, the average price for renting a house in Miami-Dade increased by 33% in the month of November alone.
