Florida's Unemployment Rate Drops in April 2010

Florida's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April 2010 is 12%, down from March's 12.3%. This is the first time Florida's unemployment rate has gone down since February 2006, signaling a possible shift in the job market.

Even so, 1,113,000 out of 9,282,000 Floridians in the labor force are still jobless and the state still has a long way to go before unemployment rates return to normalcy.

Nationally, the unemployment rate rose from 9.7% to 9.9%; but this is not bad news. The unemployment rate does not take into account hidden unemployment, or discouraged workers who have given up on the job search. Many of the 9.9% were discouraged workers who regained confidence in the job market and have begun to look for work again.