Much fuss as been made about recent labor and employment statistics. In March, the unemployment rate dropped lower to 3.5%, roughly in line with analyst expectations and the lowest gain since December of 2020.
But the job market is booming in one state and showing very little sign of slowing down.
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According to recent Axios data, three out of the five cities with the lowest unemployment rates are in none other than the sunny state of Florida.
The five cities with the lowest unemployment rates are:
- Miami, FL (2.2%)
- Minneapolis, MN (2.4%)
- Tampa Bay, FL (2.5%)
- Indianapolis, IN (2.6%)
- Orlando, FL (2.6%)
By contrast, none of the cities with the highest unemployment rates are in Florida. They are:
- Las Vegas, NV (5.7%)
- Chicago, IL (4.4%)
- Los Angeles, CA (4.3%)
- Houston, TX (4.3%)
- Cleveland, OH (4.2%)
Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston each have over one million workers unemployed, the data says.
"Looking at only the nationwide unemployment rate can hide significant disparities between cities that are thriving and those that are struggling," Axios reports, adding that "city-level unemployment figures tend to closely track the national trend, with minor deviations driven by the local economic situation."
Population Shifts Have Dire Economic Consequences
Florida has seen a massive uptick in migration and popularity in the wake of the covid pandemic. Many people who now work remotely are able to relocate to states with higher perceived quality of life.
Tens of thousands of workers from New York state alone have relocated to Florida. In 2022, a total of 64,577 New Yorkers moved to Florida. The previous year, 61,728 moved there. In 2023 so far, over 10,000 New Yorkers have switched their New York driver's licenses to Florida.
By contrast, many people are fleeing cities that they perceive to have a dwindling return on investment.
Los Angeles, for example, continues to struggle with high crime rates, high costs of living, and mass population exodus. Many metro stations, once a hub for commuters and tourists getting around town, now sit empty. Instead of busy 9-to-5ers, some LA metro stations are instead grappling with crime, vagrancy, and drug overdoses underground -- with little recourse or solutions for the problem.
The number of unsheltered homeless people has increased by 6% since the beginning of the pandemic. In some areas of the city, the number of unhoused individuals has gone up or down by as much as 24% month-to-month during the pandemic due to cleanup efforts, but officials note the numbers routinely swell.
Instead, folks are opting for warmer weather and perceived economic opportunity, where states may have lower taxes or costs of living.
"In-migration is still a really important part of the story of Florida and the fact that people are moving away from higher cost, colder areas in the Northeast into places like Miami, to some extent, but more so Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa," Adam Kamins, director of regional economics at Moody’s Analytics, said.
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