In covering the extent of Florida’s economic success I run the risk of sounding like a broken record. But while there’s a lot that’s broken in our society, Florida’s economy is about the furthest thing from it. Friday’s monthly jobs report for Florida painted a picture of an economy which is as good as it gets in any large state. Florida’s workforce is back to setting new records, having more than fully recovered from the pandemic losses. Our state’s unemployment rate, at 2.7%, is 28% lower than the national average and the lowest of any large state in the nation. But it’s not just about jobs and the unemployment rate. It’s about opportunity more broadly. Florida’s new business formation has been absolutely stunning.
Florida’s led the country by a wide margin in new business formation, adding a total of 1,534,221 new businesses, or an average of 4,203 new businesses per day, over the past year. By way of comparison, there are a total of 7.9 million households in the state of Florida. And specific to South Florida, we’re among the biggest beneficiaries with total new business formations and the fastest rate of growth of jobs in the country. While other parts of the state continue to grow population faster than SFL, the maturation of our business economy continues to be evidenced from the moniker of Wall Street South, with massive financial companies relocating to South Florida, to South Florida now being a top ten destination for technology jobs and growth. And speaking of growth, importantly it’s coming in the form of wages as well.
Florida’s wage growth has paced a large state best 8% year-over-year, nearly keeping up with the rate of inflation over the same time. That compares to just 5.2% nationally. While many cost-of-living challenges remain, there’s no question we’re continuing to make significant progress with incomes as well. So, yeah Florida’s economy continues to roll.
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