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Florida job creation slows in January, ADP report says

 
Published Feb. 13, 2014

Florida's job-creation machine slowed down in January, according to a regional report released Wednesday.

Payroll processing company ADP estimated that Florida added 11,610 private sector jobs last month. That marks a big dropoff from December, when ADP said Florida churned out more than 25,000 new private sector jobs.

Despite the drop, the state still ranks second as a job generator, trailing only Texas among the 29 states tracked by ADP and its report partner, Moody's Analytics. Texas nearly doubled Florida's output by adding 22,120 jobs last month.

Florida's growth rate based on the current size of its labor pool was less impressive. It trailed eight states last month: Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, Utah and Washington, as well as Texas.

About 7,900 of Florida's new jobs were on the typically lower-wage, service-producing side, while nearly 3,700 were in goods-producing. By select industry, trade transportation and utilities — a broad category that includes retail — was the dominant growth engine, posting 3,270 new jobs. Natural resources/mining and construction wasn't far behind, however, with 2,790 new jobs reported.

Unlike the U.S. Labor Department's monthly employment reports, ADP does not include jobs added or lost in state, local and federal government in its calculations, which are based on a trove of payroll data.

The government's next jobs report for Florida, which includes the unemployment rate for January, is slated for March 17.