Collier, Lee jobless rates drop 5.1 percent

“Every county in Alabama experienced a decrease in their unemployment rates this month”, Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Washington said. Others in the region: Charlotte at 5.9 percent, compared to 7.0 percent a year ago; Glades at 7.3 percent, compared to 7.9 percent a year ago.

Unemployment is lowest in Shelby County, which had a September jobless rate of 4.1 percent.

Alabama’s unemployment rate dropped to 6 percent in September, according to data released Friday by Gov. Robert Bentley’s office. Florida’s unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent in September, down from a revised figure of 5.4 percent in August.

Nonagricultural employment in the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota metro area was 276,500 in September, an increase of 2.7 percent from a year ago. “We have not seen this many jobs in September since 2008”. “The number of unemployed individuals is also at a seven-year low, and there are more than 267,000 job openings across the state”. The professional and business services sector grew by more than 1,700 jobs and the education and health services jobs increased by more than 1,400.

The last time the county’s unemployment rate fell below 5% was in June of 2007, which was about six months before the recession.

Manatee County’s 5.1 percent rate showed a parallel three-tenths-of-a-point improvement from the 5.2 percent rate of August and was almost a point better than the 5.8 percent of a year ago.