Florida’s unemployment rate has dropped again, to its lowest point in four-and-a-half years. It was 7.2% for April, down from 7.5% in March. The new rate is the state's lowest since early in the recession and marks several months of continued recovery.
The announcement came Friday as Governor Rick Scott signed the bill that was his top economic development priority of the recent legislative session – a tax break on manufacturing equipment.
"It’s nice that we are below the national average for two years running now", Scott said. "That’s outstanding. I just hope we keep this up, and get more people moving to our state and more jobs."
Economists say the state's jobless rate should continue to drop, returning to as low as 6% by 2016.
Jobs grew in the hospitality, construction and health care industries over the past year. Government and manufacturing lost jobs.