Florida unemployment rate hits double digits in April
May 22, 2020 - Florida's unemployment rate was 12.9 percent in April, according to newly released information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's up from 4.4 percent in March and from 3.3 percent in April 2019. The unemployment rate for the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area was 13.1 percent in April, up 10.1 percentage points from one year ago, a separate news release from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said. In the Tampa-St. Pete area, the industry losing the most jobs over the year was leisure and hospitality, with a loss of 77,600 jobs. Government was the only major industry that gained jobs over the year in April 2020, up 1,200 jobs. The national unemployment rate rose to 14.7 percent in April and was 11.1 points higher than in April 2019.