Tampa Bay Area Unemployment 12.3%..

... and it is not going to get better any time soon. so, if you are seeking work in this area, my suggestion to you is to stop wasting your time here and look for work elsewhere. Of course, with Christmas only a few days away, you might get lucky and find some seasonal work at WalMart or other such retailers in the area.
For those of you who wish to know, the unemployment rate for the entire state of Florida now sits at 11.5%, which really sucks if you live in the state.
Florida lost a total 16,700 jobs during the month of November, the worst in the nation. The unemployment rate of 11.5% is the highest in 34 years which is 1.5% higher than the national average.
Of course, the 12.3% rate for the Tampa Bay area makes it the leader for those without work than all of the other metro areas in the state.

November's rate is the highest posted in Florida since May 1975, when unemployment peaked at 11.9 percent. Several economists predict the state will break the 12 percent mark early next year before gradually retreating.
It could take until 2019, state economists project, before unemployment in Florida gets back to a more palatable 6 percent range.
With more than 1 million jobless out of a statewide labor force of 9.2 million, Florida was singled out by the Labor Department as the only state in the country to post a statistically significant increase in unemployment in November. Seven other states that posted significant changes in unemployment all saw their rates go down. In fact, 36 states and the District of Columbia all saw a dip in unemployment last month.
About 9,200 of the jobs Florida lost in November were tied to construction, most of them specialty trade contractors, Rust said.
More than two-thirds of Florida's job shedding over the year has been tied to three industry sectors: construction; trade, transportation and utilities; and professional and business services. Health care has been the only growing industry for much of the year.

SOURCE:http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/personalfinance/