The first jobs report fully under the new Trump administration showed a softening job market, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1% in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released March 7.
Job growth increased but fell below expectations, one of several possible fissures appearing in the once rock-solid labor market. Businesses are pulling back on hiring as the economic forecast and policy outlook grow murkier due to volatile trade policies and large cuts to the federal workforce.
Federal government employment fell by 10,000 in February, pushing up total cuts to the federal workforce. In the first two months of 2025, 62,530 federal workers were let go. However, the most recent cuts, including the Department of Education's workforce getting slashed by nearly half, have not yet appeared in official jobs data. Retail employment also fell by 6,000.
The broader unemployment index, known as the U-6, which also includes laborers working part-time because they can't find full-time work, and those who want to work but have given up searching, rose to 8%, its highest since October 2021.
To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in Florida, using BLS data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in January 2025, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Key takeaways: Jobs report shows softening labor market
February's job growth of 151,000 fell below economists' expected gains of 160,000, showing the labor market is cooling faster than predicted. Experts say many companies weighing policy changes and economic uncertainty are deciding it's safer to hold off on hiring decisions for now.
"If you were a company and you were saying, 'I'm looking to expand, or I'm looking to hire,' you would have investors in those companies saying, 'Are you crazy?'" Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, told Marketplace.
Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in two years, which may have led to layoffs or hiring slowdowns, Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told NBC News.
The big story: From bold promises to frozen labor market
After an initial market pop following Trump's electoral win, indexes have slumped to below when he took office, and uncertainty about the future of the markets is a common theme. Are threatened tariffs in place, delayed, reversed, or ramped up? Has that federal worker been fired or given their job back? Are those federal dollars slashed or reinstated? It's a question mark that changes daily.
Research shows that uncertainty invites lower investment, slows employment, and increases financial market volatility. The word "uncertain" showed up 47 times in the March edition of the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's snapshot of reports from across the nation, compared to 17 times in the previous report from January.
The new administration's blitz of executive orders and trade policy waffling have cast a dense fog over the short-term economic outlook. One thing that is known? Uncertainty isn't good for business planning, job creation, or hiring.
In a March 12 interview with Semafor, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that average consumers likely don't change "what they're going to do because they read about tariffs," but "companies might."
"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added.
To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in Florida.
47. Pinellas County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 501,843 people (18,947 unemployed)
47. Duval County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 526,226 people (20,191 unemployed)
47. Collier County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 187,592 people (7,053 unemployed)
47. Clay County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 115,336 people (4,415 unemployed)
43. Hendry County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: -0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 21,730 people (839 unemployed)
43. Santa Rosa County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 91,013 people (3,506 unemployed)
43. Martin County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 72,432 people (2,860 unemployed)
43. Lake County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 199,145 people (7,773 unemployed)
38. Gilchrist County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,219 people (326 unemployed)
38. Manatee County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 200,061 people (8,025 unemployed)
38. Brevard County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 307,261 people (12,247 unemployed)
38. Bay County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 92,144 people (3,662 unemployed)
38. Lee County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 376,942 people (15,168 unemployed)
33. Escambia County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 149,172 people (6,092 unemployed)
33. Calhoun County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,149 people (209 unemployed)
33. Alachua County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 143,800 people (5,831 unemployed)
33. Sarasota County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 203,119 people (8,273 unemployed)
33. Pasco County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 299,204 people (12,186 unemployed)
30. Liberty County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,510 people (106 unemployed)
30. Jackson County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 18,275 people (763 unemployed)
30. Holmes County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,858 people (331 unemployed)
29. Bradford County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,405 people (452 unemployed)
23. Volusia County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 267,761 people (11,658 unemployed)
23. Suwannee County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 17,666 people (781 unemployed)
23. St. Lucie County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 169,319 people (7,382 unemployed)
23. Okeechobee County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 16,120 people (707 unemployed)
23. Levy County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,201 people (844 unemployed)
23. Gadsden County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 17,673 people (781 unemployed)
19. Columbia County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 28,306 people (1,260 unemployed)
19. Polk County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 360,687 people (16,298 unemployed)
19. Franklin County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +1.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,376 people (198 unemployed)
19. Hernando County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 91,614 people (4,082 unemployed)
13. Washington County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,328 people (428 unemployed)
13. Hardee County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,926 people (459 unemployed)
13. Flagler County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 55,538 people (2,536 unemployed)
13. Putnam County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 29,649 people (1,357 unemployed)
13. Marion County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 160,570 people (7,359 unemployed)
13. Indian River County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 68,081 people (3,103 unemployed)
10. Dixie County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,914 people (284 unemployed)
10. Lafayette County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,625 people (126 unemployed)
10. Charlotte County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 78,040 people (3,758 unemployed)
8. DeSoto County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 12,761 people (621 unemployed)
8. Union County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.9%
--- 1-month change: +1.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,298 people (209 unemployed)
7. Madison County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.1%
--- 1-month change: +1.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,816 people (347 unemployed)
6. Glades County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,962 people (212 unemployed)
4. Hamilton County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,140 people (232 unemployed)
4. Highlands County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 36,994 people (2,055 unemployed)
3. Citrus County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 54,052 people (3,119 unemployed)
2. Taylor County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.5%
--- 1-month change: +2.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,701 people (371 unemployed)
1. Sumter County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.9%
--- 1-month change: +2.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 34,923 people (2,397 unemployed)
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Ben Popken, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.
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