Florida’s jobless rate jumped to a four-year high in November. The unemployment rate of 4.2% was up 0.3% from September.
The state’s Bureau of Workforce Statistics said October jobs data are not available because of the federal government shutdown that began that month and lasted 43 days.
The last time Florida’s unemployment rate was above 4% was in the fall of 2021 as the job market was recovering from the pandemic layoffs. A generally held view is that an unemployment rate below 5% represents “full employment” for an economy. By that standard, the Florida job market remains strong.
The job losses in November were led by the construction and manufacturing industries shedding workers. A drop in administrative positions also added to the pressure compared to a month earlier.
There is clear evidence in Florida of efforts by the Trump administration to pare down the federal workforce during its first year back in office. There were 10,000 fewer federal government jobs in November of this year versus a year ago. About one out of every 16 federal jobs in Florida has been cut in the last year, according to data that is not seasonally adjusted.
South Florida’s unemployment rate increased to 4.1% in November, up from 3.6% in September. It remains the lowest among the four major metropolitan areas in the state.
South Florida Nov. job gains
• retail
• warehousing
• tourism
Florida Nov. job cuts
• construction
• manufacturing
• administrative
Miami-Dade County’s unemployment rate of 3.2% continued to be the lowest among all 67 counties.
Hiring by retailers, warehouses and tourism firms helped limit any job losses in South Florida in November as companies prepared for the winter holidays and start of the traditional tourism season. Construction jobs, another important source of employment in the region, were essentially unchanged. Healthcare remained a strong source of hiring.
There were 1,800 fewer federal government positions in South Florida in November of 2025 versus a year earlier, representing a decline of almost 5%.
The U.S. Department of Labor did not collect employment data retroactively after the federal government reopened in mid-November. The state jobs data relies on statistics collected by the federal agency. No national jobs data for October was released.
