DeSantis: Florida June Jobless Rate Drops to 2.8% Despite ‘Bidenflation’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in an undated photo. Courtesy of Ron DeSantis for Governor

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.–Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on July 22 that Florida’s June 2022 unemployment rate dropped to 2.8 percent, despite national economic conditions.

“Despite Biden administration policies that have produced record inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, and slowing national GDP, Florida continues to outpace the nation with strong job growth and an increasing labor force,” DeSantis said in a press statement. “Florida’s unemployment rate has remained lower than the nation for 19 consecutive months and is now close to a full percentage point lower than the nation as a whole. June’s data demonstrates once again that our freedom-first approach is working for Floridians.”

DeSantis is no fan of President Joe Biden’s economic policies and called them “anti-American” in a Twitter post after the national inflation numbers were released with the Department of Labor reporting it was far worse than expected, showing the highest rate in more than four decades at 9.1 percent.

“Brutal inflation report shows a devastating increase of 9.1 percent year-over-year. Bidenflation is wreaking havoc on workers, families & small businesses—a consequence of anti-American energy policy, exorbitant borrowing & printing of money & counterproductive federal regulations,” DeSantis said in a July 13 Tweet.

DeSantis described the current economic status as a “self-inflicted wound,” pointing to the Biden administration’s “poor energy policies and fiscal policies” and said that Washington officials “just can’t keep printing trillions of dollars and somehow you’re never going to see any consequence of that.”

June economic data indicated that the unemployment rate for the state dropped to 2.8 percent; Florida’s statewide unemployment rate declined or held steady for 23 consecutive months and, from June 2021 and June 2022, Florida’s labor force grew by 293,000. By comparison, the national unemployment rate remains unchanged during the month of June at 3.6 percent. Florida’s labor force grew by 4 percent (40,000) over the month while nationally the labor force shrank by 2 percent.

The national unemployment rate remains unchanged over the month at 3.6 percent, 0.8 percent higher than Florida’s rate. Florida’s labor force grew by 40,000 (+0.4 percent) over the month, while the national labor force shrank by 0.2 percent.

The private sector saw growth over the year by 5.8 percent adding 452,100 jobs outpacing the national rate of 4.9 percent. In the private section, leisure and hospitality led with 12,100 new jobs while education and health services added 7,800 jobs.

According to the Employ Florida website, there are 603,000 jobs posted as Floridians continue to search for work and new job opportunities, DeSantis said.