Bay unemployment rises in July

PANAMA CITY — Bay County’s unemployment rate rose last month, according to figures the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity released Friday.

The area’s unemployment rose from 5.6 percent to 6 percent between June and July, while the state’s unemployment rate remained steady at 6.2 percent.

However, Bay County also added nearly 1,000 jobs during that time frame, contributing to an increase in the labor force from 93,685 to 95,000. The labor force, which represents the number of people employed or actively seeking work in a given area, also saw growth in June, increasing from 92,612. There were 5,674 Bay County residents out of work in July.

Kim Bodine, executive director of CareerSource Gulf Coast, which provides services to job seekers and employers in Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties, said that while the unemployment rate rose throughout the region last month, both Bay and Gulf County’s rates are about 0.5 percent lower than they were in July of last year. Franklin County’s unemployment rate last month, however, was higher than a year ago, something Bodine blamed on a failing fishery.

“Some flatness comes from schools being closed,” Bodine said of the rates overall. “It’s troubling, however, to see the Franklin County unemployment figure higher than it was a year ago. We are working on plans in that area to aid some of those affected by the fishery failure.”

Annual job growth in the Panama City metro area was 0.4 percent, while the state increased jobs at a rate of 2.9 percent.

The highest rate of job growth in Bay County was seen in the professional and retail services industry, followed by trade, transportation and utilities, and mining, logging and construction. Industries losing jobs included leisure and hospitality, financial activities, and education, health services and government. Manufacturing jobs remained unchanged year-over-year.

Following a busy summer tourist season, Bodine said workforce officials continue to question the reported job loss in the leisure and hospitality industry.

“We know by preliminary local accounts that we are seeing exceptionally strong tourism this summer,” Bodine said. “We had the local chambers of commerce alerting us to a shortage of rooms for the July Fourth weekend due to high traffic. We’ve seen bed tax collections and retail sales increase in all three counties. How did all of that happen with job loss?”

As the tourist season winds down this month, Bodine encouraged job seekers displaced by seasonal employment to reach out to CareerSource Gulf Coast for job search assistance.

For more information about services provided, visit www.careersourcegc.com.

July 2014      June 2014      July 2013

Bay................6.0.....5.6........6.5        

Calhoun…...7.4.....6.7........7.4        

Franklin........6.0.....5.5........5.5

Gulf................6.6....6.0.........7.1

Holmes.........6.4....5.9.........6.7

Jackson........6.0....5.6.........6.3

Walton...........3.9....3.7.........4.4

Washington...7.8...7.3.........8.4