As if we needed the notoriety, the Tampa Bay area has been named the second-biggest job loser among large metro areas nationwide.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater lost 1.8 percent of its jobs over the year ending in June. That's second only to California's Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area, which lost 2 percent of its employment.
While the numbers sting, they come as no surprise. In May and June, the Tampa Bay area led the state in job losses, with 23,100 vanishing over the past year. Unemployment locally was 5.9 percent in June, up from 4.2 percent a year before and higher than the state and national levels, both at 5.5 percent.
Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wachovia, said he's seeing tentative signs of a bottoming in Florida. But he doesn't see improvement any time soon.
"We may not see sales and construction-related jobs fall all that much more, but they're not likely to pick up in a meaningful way for some time," he said. "And the job losses are fairly broad-based. The nation is still technically not in recession territory, but it's the most agonizingly nonrecessionary period I can think of for the U.S. economy."
If it's any comfort, the Tampa Bay area isn't the only Florida market making national rankings for job losses. When considering metro areas of all sizes, three of the top five markets for job declines are on the West Coast of Florida: Cape Coral-Fort Myers (down 5.1 percent), Naples-Marco Island (down 4.2 percent) and Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice (down 3.6 percent).
Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2996.
Where the jobs aren't
Large metro areas with highest percentage job losses year-over-year, June 2008:
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
– 2%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
– 1.8%
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.
– 1.7%
Pheonix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz
– 1.4%
Where the jobs are
Areas with highest percentage job increases:
Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.
+ 2.1%
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
+ 2.1%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas
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