At 3.8% Polk County's unemployment rate for September is 0.6% higher than the region's year ago rate of 3.2%, the Florida Commerce Department said on Friday.
Polk County’s September unemployment rate was also 0.8% above the state unemployment rate of 3%.
The labor force in Polk County was 352,679 workers, up 9,523 (or 2.8%) over the year. There were 13,417 unemployed residents in the region.
Related: Despite adding 4,800 jobs in the past year, Polk's unemployment rate rose slightly in July
The following is a breakdown of Lakeland-Winter Haven metropolitan area’s workforce statistics in September per job categories:
• Nonagricultural employment in the Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA was 269,700, an increase of 2,600 jobs (or 1% higher) over the year.
• The job categories with the largest increases were education and health services at 8.5%; leisure and hospitality at 3%; and other services at 2.9%. In those industries, Polk County added jobs faster than other metro areas across the state over the year.
• Professional and business services lost 2,400 jobs since September 2022 and mining, logging, and construction went down 500 jobs over the year.
• The financial activities; government; and information industries were unchanged for the same timeframe.
The unemployment rate in Florida rose to 2.8%, which was the second month it rose this year, according to the state’s Commerce Department release Friday.
There were 6,000 people considered to be unemployed in the state since August for a total of 309,000 jobless people, the state's Commerce Department said.
The unemployment rate nationwide was 3.8% in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate was unchanged since August but still 0.3% higher than September 2022.
Non-farm payroll employment increased in six states and mostly the same for 44 states and the District of Columbia in September.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk's September unemployment rate slightly higher than a year ago