The unemployment rate in the CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion region held steady at 3.4% in October, which is unchanged from the previous month and 0.8 percentage points lower than the region’s rate a year ago.
Across the three-county region, the labor force in October was 210,238, an increase of 3,193 workers over the year. There were a total of 7,169 unemployed residents in the region.
According to preliminary employment data released by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, there were 203,069 residents who were employed across the region, which is an increase of 4,638 compared to the same time last year. There were 1,445 fewer unemployed residents than in October 2021.
Last month, Levy County continued to hold the lowest unemployment rate in the region at 2.9%, followed by Marion County (3.3%) and Citrus County (4.0%). Marion County’s jobless rate is down 0.1 percentage points compared to last month and 0.6 percentage points lower than the rate that was reported in October 2021.
Rusty Skinner, CareerSource CLM’s chief executive officer, stated that the report highlights continued job growth in both the Ocala and Homosassa Springs metro areas, which cover all of Marion and Citrus counties.
In the Ocala MSA, the mining, logging, and construction industry added 500 new jobs and grew by 5.7%, faster in the metro area than statewide over the year.
Additional industries gaining jobs in the Ocala MSA included education and health services (+500 jobs); leisure and hospitality (+700 jobs); trade, transportation, and utilities (+400 jobs); financial activities (+100 jobs); government (+100 jobs); and other services (+100 jobs).
“The jobs are definitely there, and employers are actively hiring,” said Skinner.
Skinner also pointed out that 20 top businesses, all with immediate jobs to fill, will take part in the 10th Annual Paychecks for Patriots job fair. The hiring event, which was postponed earlier in the month due to Tropical Storm Nicole, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 30, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Marion County Public Library headquarters in Ocala.
For more information about job fairs, hiring events, and other candidate and business services, visit the CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion website or call 1-800-434-JOBS (5627).