More than 100,000 were still out of work in Miami-Dade last month
Approximately 103,000 workers were still looking for jobs in Miami-Dade County in February, Florida officials reported Friday — a sign South Florida’s labor market was still being ravaged by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic despite the kickoff of vaccine campaigns.
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity data show the 103,000 mark is well below the pandemic-high Miami-Dade saw last July of 192,000. But just prior to the pandemic, the county had seen its ranks of the unemployed hit 22,000, a low not seen in more than a decade.
Miami-Dade’s unemployment rate now stands at 7.9% — higher than the national rate of 6.2% and the state’s 4.7%; and the second-highest county rate in Florida. In Broward County, more than 57,000 remained out of work in February, equating to an unemployment rate of 5.6%.
Perhaps the biggest drag on the local economy remains the suspension of cruises, especially during what would otherwise be its peak season. Estimates suggest the cruise industry supports about 60,000 jobs in South Florida. State data show the Miami area’s leisure and hospitality sector remains 44,000 jobs short of where it was in February of 2020. In Fort Lauderdale, the figure was 18,200 short for the sector.
For the state as a whole, 474,000 remained out of work, down from 482,000 in January but well above the approximately 339,000 seen in the months leading up to the pandemic. The unemployment rate fell slightly from 4.8% in January to 4.7% in February.
The state’s labor force, or the number of total employed and unemployed individuals, climbed 55,000 on the month but remains 337,000 short of where it was in February 2020. Economists believe the labor force is likely to continue to recover in 2021 but remain permanently crimped by changes brought about by the pandemic.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 12:18 PM.
