In May 2009, the rate of unemployment for Central Florida reached 10.2%, the first time it has been in the double digits since 1976.
I know about unemployment in Central Florida first hand. After graduating with my master's degree in health education and behavior with a specialization in adapted physical activity, the only job I could find for an entire year was as a cocktail waitress. At the time I linked the shortage of job opportunities with the constant stream of new graduates from the area universities overflowing a market that was not growing at a rate to match. However, with the unemployment rate still increasing three years later, the problem may be larger and more complex.
One question to ask is, what type of jobs are being lost? 10.2% is certainly too high of an unemployment rate to blame on college graduates remaining in Central Florida. According to the Orlando Business Journal, the hardest hit job category was construction, with a whopping drop of 90,800 jobs this year. In second place was the leisure and hospitality industry with a drop of 55,100 jobs. This area is predictably the largest one in Orlando (it is, after all, tourist central).
The unemployment rate last year was only 5.8%. The nearly double rate this year represents a comparative deficit of 62,200 jobs, which was in the top 5 decreases in the state.
The unemployment rate was reported by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.
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