Florida's unemployment rate dipped slightly in July, with Jacksonville's rate taking a higher drop due to hirings in retail and financial services, officials said.
The state's rate edged down from 5.4 percent in June to 5.3 percent last month, while Jacksonville's dipped from 6.1 percent to 5.7 percent, Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation reported.
Jacksonville's rate remained higher than the Florida's. However, Duval County is among a few statewide in which officials employ large numbers of private workers in schools.
Many of those workers return to school this month from summer break.
Back-to-school shopping may have spurred improvements in Jacksonville's rate, said Candace Moody of WorkSource, a work force development agency.
"Summertime is a laggard time for a lot of industries," Moody said. "We hate upward ticks. We're back on a downward trend, we hope."
Meanwhile, with national unemployment at 6.2 percent, Florida's rate continued lower than the U.S. rate for a 17th consecutive month -- since March 2002.
Non-agricultural jobs continued upward growth. In July, there were 7.1 million jobs, an increase of 1.2 percent over July 2002, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation reported.
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