Florida led nation in job growth in January

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Florida leads the nation in job growth according to new federal jobless reports.

Florida’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 5 percent in January according to state officials. That’s higher than the national jobless rate of 4.9 percent.

But the state did add 32,200 jobs that month. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that this was the highest number of jobs added by any state in January. Texas was second with 31,400 jobs added.

Gov. Rick Scott announced the new jobless numbers during a stop in Orlando at Orion Technologies. The governor also stopped by in Storm Smart in Fort Myers as part of his Million, Billion Jobs Victory Tour.

His visit was the third to the company, which he praised for its continued impact to Fort Myers job growth.

Scott has made job creation the central focus of his administration, but on Monday he also claimed responsibility for a $1 billion tax cut.

“I’m going to continue to reduce taxes. It’s part of the reason why we have over one million jobs. I’m going to use every tool in the tool kit for me to go and recruit companies like Hertz to come down here, companies like Storm Smart to expand,” Gov. Scott said.

The governor’s last tour stop is in Miami, which is just north of Key West in Monroe County, which continues to have the lowest unemployment rate at 3.3 percent. Hendry County had the highest jobless rate at 8.4 percent.

Florida’s unemployment rate continues to be at an eight-year all time low.