Unemployment mainly unchanged in Franklin, Gulf
Unemployment along the Forgotten Coast showed little change last month.
According to preliminary data released Friday by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Gulf County’s jobless rate remained at 3.2 percent in September, while in Franklin, it ticked upward a tiny bit, from 3.6 to 3.7 percent.
In Gulf County, four people left the jobless rolls, lowering them to 175, while the labor force shrank by just five workers, from 5,523 to 5,518. In Franklin, three workers joined the unemployment line, as the labor force shrank by 12 workers, from 4,850 to 4,838.
This data kept Gulf tied with Walton and St. Johns as fifth best in the state, behind only Okaloosa and Wakulla at 3.1, Monroe at 2.3 and Miami-Dade, best in the state, at 2.1.
Franklin County saw its status midway among Florida’s 67 counties, better than the national average but behind the state average.
One year ago, the unemployment rate in both counties was lower, 3.0 in both Gulf and Franklin, while the labor force was larger in Gulf by 64 workers, and bigger in Franklin by 42 more workers.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in September, unchanged from the August rate, and up 0.3 percentage point from a year ago. There were 368,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 11.04 million. The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in September.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted total nonagricultural employment was close to 10 million in September, an increase of 17,000 jobs (+0.2 percent) over the month. The state gained 204,700 jobs over the year, an increase of 2.1 percent. Nationally, the number of jobs rose 1.6 percent over the year.
Seven of 10 major industries experienced positive over-the-year job growth in September. The industries gaining jobs over the year included trade, transportation, and utilities (+46,100 jobs, +2.3 percent); education and health services (+41,300 jobs, +2.8 percent); construction (+37,100 jobs, +5.9 percent); leisure and hospitality (+34,000 jobs, +2.6 percent); total government (+29,100 jobs, +2.6 percent); other services (+15,900 jobs, +4.3 percent); and professional and business services (+4,600 jobs, +0.3 percent).
The industries losing jobs over the year were manufacturing (-400 jobs, -0.1 percent); information (-1,000 jobs, -0.6 percent); and financial activities (-2,300 jobs, -0.3 percent).
| September Area Unemployment | ||
|---|---|---|
| County | 2023 | 2024 |
| Wakulla | 2.9% | 3.1% |
| Gulf | 3.0% | 3.2% |
| Bay | 3.0% | 3.3% |
| Leon | 3.2% | 3.5% |
| Franklin | 3.0% | 3.7% |
| Liberty | 3.5% | 4.0% |
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.