Florida jobless rate falls to 3.3 percent, state adds 23,600 jobs

Florida's unemployment rate inched down in November to 3.3 percent, down from 3.4 percent in October according to state figures released Friday. The state added 23,600 jobs over the month.

Tampa Bay's unemployment rate ticked up from 2.9 percent in October to 3 percent in November. Hillsborough County's jobless rate was unchanged from October at 2.9 percent, while Hernando County's unemployment rate increased from 3.8 percent to 3.9 percent, Pasco County rose to 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent a month earlier and Pinellas County rose from 2.7 percent to 2.8 percent over the month.

Tampa Bay added the third-highest number of jobs of Florida's metro areas over the year (23,500), behind Orlando (60,800) and Miami (24,200). Panama City, the only metro to lose jobs over the year, lost 400 jobs because of Hurricane Michael, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said.

Leisure and hospitality gained the most jobs over the year (53,200), followed by education and health services (50,700) and professional and business services (45,400). The only sector to lose jobs over the year was government (9,600).

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in November.

Contact Malena Carollo at mcarollo@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2249. Follow @malenacarollo.