Florida’s unemployment rate remains at 4.9 percent

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s unemployment remains slightly above the national rate.

State officials on Friday announced the December unemployment remained at 4.9 percent, the same as November and 0.2 percentage points above the nation’s jobless rate.

Despite unemployment rising slightly in October and November, Florida’s rate is 0.2 percentage points lower than 12 months earlier.

There were 491,000 jobless Floridians out of a workforce of more than 9.9 million people. The state lost 700 jobs last month, but gained 251,400 over the year.

Monroe County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 3 percent, followed by Hamilton County at 3.4 percent and St. Johns County at 3.6 percent.

Hendry County had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 8 percent, followed by Citrus County at 6.7 percent and Sumter County at 6.6 percent.