PALM COAST, FL (January 20, 2023) – Flagler County’s unemployment rate dropped a half of a percentage point to 2.7%, according to the December 2022 data release from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
“The holiday shopping season saw Flagler County employers hiring more than we expected,” said Greg Blosé, President & CEO of the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce. “A half-point drop in the unemployment rate is remarkable, considering low consumer sentiment and historically high inflation. Although we do expect less hiring in January and February of 2023, we won’t know for sure until we receive the next unemployment report, which will not occur until March 2023. What we do know is Flagler County is at full employment.”
Blosé continued, “December’s data release is a good opportunity to review what happened, in terms of job creation, for Flagler County in 2022. We see the following trends:
The number of residents that are employed has risen by 1,823 residents in 2022,
Our workforce has grown by approximately 1,689 residents in 2022, and
There are 134 fewer residents receiving unemployment benefits than we saw a year ago.”
The number of Flagler County residents that are employed (either working in this county or another county) increased from 49,041 workers in November 2022 to 49,152 in December 2022, an increase of 111 residents.
The number of unemployed job-seeking residents in Flagler County dropped to 1,370 in December 2022, a decrease of 228 residents from last month’s report.
The Flagler County labor force remained relatively flat at 50,522 residents in December 2022.
For more information, contact Greg Blosé, President and CEO of the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber, at 386-846-1864 or via email at Greg@PalmCoastFlaglerRegionalChamber.com. Learn more about the Chamber by visiting our website, www.PCFChamber.com
