Florida has reached its lowest unemployment rate since August 2008, the state Department of Economic Opportunity announced Friday. The new mark of 6.7% percent represents an estimated 625,000 Floridians still out of work.
The department estimates there were 18,000 fewer jobless people in October than in September, when Florida's unemployment mark stood at 6.8%.
Governor Rick Scott, who is expected to use the drop in the jobless rate as a key to his re-election effort next year, credits his tax- and regulation-reduction policies.
"Look at our industries. Tourism is up. Exports are up. Home prices are up. Home construction is up. Home sales are up. Manufacturing is up", listed Scott. "So we've got a lot of things happening across our state. And it's happening faster here than most states."
Jobless rates for October fell in 28 states, but Florida led the US with the largest monthly increase in employment, gaining 44,600 jobs.
The national jobless rate for October was 7.3%, up from 7.2% in September. Florida has stayed below the national unemployment mark since March. The drop in the overall number of jobless Floridians outpaced the number of people who simply left the state's workforce between September and October - 9,000.