INTERACTIVE: Sarasota’s unemployment rate continues to fall

Sarasota County’s unemployment rate continues to fall as the year comes to a close, largely due to major increases in healthcare and education jobs — and an influx of retirees.

The local jobless rate declined to 4.5% in November, which brings the number to the lowest it has been in eight-and-a-half years, according to data released this morning by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The number of unemployed residents has fallen by more than 1,600 compared to the same month last year.

“We’re ending the year with pretty positive data about the economy,” said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith, who serves as director of the school’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. “I think it will be a good launching pad for 2016.”

Growth in the healthcare and education sectors has helped drive the unemployment rate down, and actually served to buoy the local economy during the recession, according to local metro area data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of jobs in those industries has grown 4.5% over last November, and 31% since 2005.

And Snaith said retirees put downward pressure on the labor force, which in turn forces down the overall unemployment rate.

“What’s happening in Sarasota more broadly is affecting the state of Florida, and that is the influx of retirees,” Snaith said.

Sarasota continues to outpace the state, which recorded a 5% unemployment rate in November, as well as the neighboring Manatee and Charlotte counties.