Tampa Bay Still Low on Jobs...

... which is no surprise to those of us living in this town.
If you are an hourly worker here in Tampa, then you know how rough it is trying to find even a temp job, much less a permanent one.
So how bad is it here?
Florida's unemployment rate was 11.9 percent for January, tying a high which was set almost 35 years ago, while Tampa was even higher at 13.1 percent.

A group of state economists recently predicted unemployment in Florida would top out at 12.3 percent by this fall before a slow crawl back toward the single digits.
"Unfortunately, we caught the brunt of this recession," said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith. "I think we're in the last phases of the labor market's worsening."

I've been fortunate enough to find a somewhat steady job through a day labor temp service, but that job is subject to end at any time without notice. Many down here in Tampa are not that lucky and are etching out an existence on only a few hours of work per week. Some good news may be forthcoming though.

The St. Petersburg Times reported last week that Florida had lined up 900 projects that could result in nearly 10,600 short-term jobs but was held up waiting for federal approval. Under the Back to Work program, stimulus funds would pay for up to 95 percent of salary and training costs for new hires if employers agree to keep those jobs until at least September.
Some of the most stunning statistics out Wednesday were on the local level, with the Tampa Bay area posting the highest rate among major metropolitan areas.

The last time state unemployment was at 11.9 percent was May 1975, the highest point since the state started tracking such data in 1970. Comparable figures for national jobless rates during the Depression era are not available but were believed to be about 25 percent.
Florida's unemployment rate remains substantially higher than the national average, which was 9.7 percent in February and appears to be near a peak.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/workinglife/article1078706.ece

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/

Tampa Economy: Unemployment Up...

...and that comes as no surprise to me and many others trying to make a living in this over sized town.
The unemployment rate for June was 10.6% statewide,and the rate sits at 10.7% for the Tampa/Hillsborough County area. That is up some 0.5% from May.
Some more numbers of notice:
392,800
Number of jobs Florida has lost over the past year

88,500 Lost jobs in professional and business services

86,300 Lost jobs in trade, transportation and utilities

80,400Lost jobs in construction

10,000 Added jobs in health care and social assistance, the state's only growing sector

$100M Amount in extended unemployment benefits paid out to Floridians as of Friday

31,513 Number of Floridians expected to exhaust extended unemployment benefits through September.

131,893 Number of Floridians expected to exhaust extended unemployment benefits through December.

Sources: Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation; Florida Employment Law Project

The government and other agencies which keep track of such things keep telling you and I that this recession is easing up a bit. That may be true in other areas of the United States, but that isn't happening in the state of Florida. It appears to be getting worse here as the weeks go by, and many of the residents of this state are paying the price.
Unless you are one of those wealthy retiree's that the state is catering to, stay the hell out of this state. You will not find any real work here if you are an hourly worker. You will certainly not be able to live here in any manner to which you may be accustomed. Times are very tough in this area. You'll do better elsewhere.

U.S. Unemployment Rate 9.5%...

... which is little changed from the previous month of May. 467,000 jobs were lost in the month of June with the largest losses coming in the manufacturing industry, as well as in the professional,construction, and the business services industry.
The unemployed stands at 14.7 million persons as of June 2009.

In June, unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men
(10.0 percent), adult women (7.6 percent), teenagers (24.0 percent),
whites (8.7 percent), blacks (14.7 percent), and Hispanics (12.2 per-
cent)--showed little change. The unemployment rate for Asians was
8.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who com-
pleted temporary jobs (9.6 million) was little changed in June after
increasing by an average of 615,000 per month during the first 5 months
of this year.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or
more) increased by 433,000 over the month to 4.4 million.In June, 3
in 10 unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.

www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.html

Friday is the third of July,so that means that our 4th of July holiday weekend is beginning. Many businesses will be closed or they will be having short work days. I am no exception. There will be no new postings at this site until Monday, the 6th.
Have a great and safe holiday everyone!

State Of The Economy: Tampa Florida...

...and it is not a pretty picture here in the " sunshine state."
It is reported that the unemployment rate here in the Tampa area is 10.2%, while the state's rate is at 10.6%. These numbers would be higher if not for the fact that many of the unemployed have left the state in droves and this trend is continuing.
I lived here back in the late early 2000's, and things have certainly gone downhill since my last stay as compared to this currant stay. In 2000, you could walk into a temporary service or a day labor service and you'd be working the very next day, if not the same day. That ain't gonna happen again anytime soon. I walked into a temp service which I use to frequent in the past, and I sat in the place everyday for a week before I was finally sent out on a job. An eight hour day? Not hardly. It was a half-day of work. Thus far this June, I've logged in 54 hours of work. For the record, I've shown up at the office every day looking for something.
Thus far while making my rounds, I've discovered that there isn't much work in my particular field, which would be "data recovery" or "data extraction" depending on who wants the work completed for them.
So what has my work consisted of? Funny that you should ask! 90% of the jobs which I have completed have been dealing with moving. Basically, unloading furniture out of moving vans and carrying the stuff into the homes of the new owners. Some of these have been apartments, which has required carrying the belongings up two or three flights of stairs. No easy task, especially in this hot Florida heat and humidity. Pay-rate? How about 8 dollars an hour? Not very much in this day and age. There is a bright side though. I've gotten some great tips from not only the home-owners, but from the van drivers as well. Throw in the tips, and the hourly rate averages something like $33.50. Now if I could just manage to get two of those per day. I have managed to unload these trucks in under three hours in most cases, which does help make the money look better. ( continued )