TALLAHASSEE - The slowdown in the housing market showed up in Florida's June unemployment figures, state officials said Friday.
With an increasing number of constructions workers out of jobs, the unemployment rate increased to 3.5 percent, up from May's 3.4 percent, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation reported.
"The soft housing market is certainly having an effect on our construction employment," said agency director Monesia Brown.
Construction employment fell by 18,000 jobs and for the first time since 1992 has experienced four consecutive months of declines.
Just last week, state economists said the slowdown may last a little longer in Florida and the slump may be worse than previous projections.
"We've begun to see construction employment begin to finally drop ... at fairly substantial rates," said Frank Williams, a legislative economic analyst.
And while June's unemployment numbers confirmed those concerns, Florida still reported an increase in new jobs overall for the 58th consecutive month and its unemployment rate was a full point below the national number of 4.5 percent.
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