Florida’s jobs numbers for February have just been released, and they seem positive. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.9 percent, down a fraction from the month before and well below the numbers from this time last year. The job growth rate ticked up as well…by three percent, which is higher than the national rate of 1.9 percent.

90.7’s Nicole Creston asked economic analyst Hank Fishkind what’s driving the strong job performance in Central Florida and across the state.

Hank’s Highlights:

• February 2016 was the 67th consecutive month with positive annual job growth after the state lost jobs for over three years during the Great Recession. That means the recovery has gone forward in Florida for more than 5 years. At this stage in the cycle, Florida has had strong gains in business and professional services of all types, including accounting, engineering, and property management services, as well as the boom in tourism
• Since Florida’s job growth is far outperforming the national average, we are attracting into Florida large numbers of people looking for work. This creates a “virtuous cycle” of job growth, leading to population growth, boosting demand and sales, and supporting more job growth
• Orlando led the state in job growth – again – with a gain of 47,000 over the year. This put Orlando into the Top 10 nationally. More generally, the I-4 corridor had the strongest job growth in Florida, generating over 101,000 jobs and accounting for 41% of the state’s total