TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott announced that Florida’s statewide unemployment rate last month dropped to 7.1 percent, the lowest rate since September 2008.
Florida’s rate — down .1 percentage point from April’s rate of 7.2 percent — continues to fall below the national average, which went up to 7.6 percent in May.
Since December 2010, Florida’s statewide unemployment rate has dropped four percentage points, from a rate of 11.1 percent to May’s rate of 7.1 percent.
In the same timeframe, the national unemployment rate has dropped 1.7 percentage points.
Florida’s unemployment rate has now declined for two and a half years.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Scott: Florida’s unemployment rate drops below national average