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The Tampa Tribune
Published: August 18, 2012
Updated: August 18, 2012 - 12:00 AM
The national economic slowdown has caught up with Florida, helping raise its unemployment rate for the first time in more than a year.
Florida's jobless rate rose to 8.8 percent in July, up from 8.6 percent in June, according to new numbers Friday from the state Department of Economic Opportunity. That translates into 816,000 unemployed Floridians out of a labor force of about 9.3 million.
The Sunshine State's unemployment rate had been improving for most of the past year, but things have gone downhill since May. The unemployment rate went flat over the past two months and finally crept up in July ? the first increase since June 2011.
The weak labor market could take on greater significance as the Republican Party gears up for its national convention in Tampa in nine days.
Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney is certain to make the economy and the politics of the Obama administration topics of debate.
Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who won election on a promise to create jobs, tried to make the best of a disappointing economic report.
The governor was in Tampa on Friday to welcome the expansion of StreetLinks Lender Solutions, a company that serves the mortgage industry and expects to add 300 people in East Tampa over three years.
"Month-to-month numbers are going to vary, but the long-term trend is positive," said Lane Wright, the governor's press secretary.
"The underlying economic data is extremely encouraging. Florida is moving in the right direction."
In fact, while the jobless rate rose in July, the new rate of 8.8 percent is still down significantly from July 2011 when it stood at 10.6 percent. By comparison, the nation's overall unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in July.
Closer to home, the Tampa region's jobless rate rose to 9.4 percent last month from 9 percent in June. Regional unemployment figures can jump wildly from month to month, because they're not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations.
Economists in Florida weren't surprised Friday. Forty-four states recorded unemployment rate increases in July, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida, said America's economy grew by 4.1 percent in the fall, but has since slowed to a weak 1.5 percent.
"This is a pretty hard application of the brakes, as far as growth is concerned," Snaith said.
Part of the problem is that businesses nationwide are nervous about the future and aren't willing to hire anyone right now, said Scott Brown, an economist with Raymond James Financial.
The presidential election is just a few months off, and by the end of this year, big tax cuts on incomes and payroll taxes will come to an end, Brown said. It's not clear if Congress will renew them, and some worry that the economy will slip back into recession if Congress doesn't act.
Scott may start feeling some heat if Florida's situation doesn't improve, even if the rest of the country is struggling, too. During his run for governor, Scott vowed to create 700,000 jobs over seven years.
So far, Florida has added about 114,000 jobs in his 20 months in office.
Lance deHaven-Smith, a political science professor at Florida State University, said no single policymaker has that much influence over the economy. Still, if Scott can't show good progress toward that 700,000-job promise, it may haunt him when he runs for re-election.
"If he's way off of it, it will be a liability," deHaven-Smith said. "Whoever's running against him will hammer him."
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tbo/nationworld/~3/NdlRf7h2Ucs/
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