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September 18, 2010
Hiring is picking up, experts say - but so far that trend hasn't shown up in the statistics.
Lee County's unemployment rate was 13.7 percent in August, up from a revised 13.3 percent in July and 13.4 percent a year ago, according to data released Friday by Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation.
The good news: Lee County had about 1,000 more jobs in August than in July.
Trouble is, that's still about 600 fewer jobs than in August 2009. And, 37,649 people are looking for work here - or nearly 600 more than in August 2009.
Employers will snap up some of these job-seekers. "Recruitment is definitely up.
We've had more interest from businesses for setting up job fairs than we've had in two years," said Barbara Hartman, spokeswoman for the Career and Service Center in Fort Myers.
Hartman said: "The numbers (of people hired) aren't large enough to make a dent yet."
Increased hiring activity hasn't yet helped Julio Lazo, 52, of Lehigh Acres. Since leaving his home in Lima, Peru, for Southwest Florida five years ago, he's worked intermittently in accounting and as an electrician's assistant.
Lazo's most recent spell of joblessness spans nine months. He visits the career center regularly to check for job listings, and to keep up his skills in such software tools as Excel. He's had about 20 face-to-face interviews, but nothing has come of them.
"Maybe I'll move to another state - Georgia or Texas," Lazo said. "The problem is, my family is here." His middle school-aged son and a daughter at Edison State College and his ex-wife are reasons he'll persist awhile longer looking for work in Southwest Florida.
There's movement
Hiring is occurring. At a Sept. 8 job fair, Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida interviewed 380 applicants for about 24 positions at two new stores the nonprofit is opening in Lee County next month. About 18 hires have been made to date, said Kirsten O'Donnell, Goodwill spokeswoman.
TZ Insurance Solutions will hold a recruitment open house for people interested in working as licensed sales agents. That event is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the company's offices at 12901 McGregor Blvd., Suite 1A, Fort Myers.
The insurance company is one of several firms in line for county incentive dollars. Lee County Economic Development Director Jim Moore told county commissioners Monday his office has business incentive deals existing or pending that promise as many as 707 new jobs for the community over the next three years.
Statewide, unemployment climbed to 11.7 percent, up from 11.5 percent in July and 11 percent a year ago. Florida's annual job growth rate was up 0.4 percent over August 2009. It's the second consecutive month the state showed positive year-over-year growth after losing jobs for three straight years, said Rebecca Rust, chief economist for the agency.
That growth "would be considered very slow, but it is still positive," Rust said, noting a more-normal rate would be 3 percent to 4 percent: "We still have a ways to go."
In Lee County sectors losing the most jobs year-over-year in August included:
. Construction, down an estimated 1,500 jobs or 7.4 percent.
. Information services, down 6.7 percent; and
. Financial activities, down 4.4 percent.
State economist Rust noted in a conference call Friday that health services comprised the biggest number of Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation job postings.
That cheers Susan Ricks, 57, of south Fort Myers. She's a licensed registered nurse with experience in hospital critical care and hospice case management.
A head injury sustained in an automotive crash has kept Ricks out of the paid work force for about two years. Her health is better now: She hopes to find a job in nursing or medical case management. It's got to be something that doesn't require being on one's feet for 12-hour shifts, however.
"I'm tenacious and very creative. ... My profession is in high demand," Ricks said. "I just have to whittle it down to what I physically am able to do."
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