The unemployment rate in the CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion region was 3.3% in January 2023, which is 0.4 percentage points higher than December 2022 and 1.3 percentage points lower than the region’s rate from a year ago.
Across the three-county region, the labor force in January 2023 was 216,178, which is an increase of 4,039 workers (+1.9%) over the year. Additionally, there were a total of 7,214 unemployed residents in the region in January 2023, an increase of 962 compared to December 2022, but a drop of 2,649 compared to January 2022.
There were a total of 208,964 residents who were employed across the region in January 2023, which is an increase of nearly 6,700 compared to the same time last year, according to preliminary employment data released by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
During the month of January 2023, Levy County continued to hold the lowest unemployment rate in the region at 3.1%, followed by Marion County (3.2%) and Citrus County (3.9%). Marion County’s jobless rate decreased by 1.2% compared to the rate that was reported in January 2022.
Across the state of Florida, jobless rates rose slightly in 65 of the 67 counties. Dale French, CareerSource CLM’s executive vice president, stated, “This is exactly what we expected to see after the seasonal holiday hires and is perfectly normal.”
“The region’s unemployment rate is still very low and businesses continue to expand, which contributes to economic recovery,” added French.
In the Ocala metropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Marion County, employment grew by 4.4%. Several industry sectors – financial activities (+7.3%), government (+6.8%), other services (+6.5%), and professional and business services (+5.6%) – grew faster in the Ocala metro area than statewide over the year, and no industries lost jobs.
“We continue to see strong and sustained job gains over the year, along with a steady stream of new career opportunities,” French said. “In today’s labor market, no one who wants good, gainful employment needs to go without a job.”
According to CareerSource CLM, several job fairs are being planned for the spring and summer, including ones for youth and young adults as well as for mature workers.
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).