Northeast Florida unemployment rate spikes

Northeast Florida unemployment rate spikes

Florida's unemployment rate is the highest it's been in more than 13 years, another sign of the state's struggling economy, state officials announced Friday.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation said 572,000 Floridians were unemployed in July as the jobless rate rose to 6.4 percent. The rate is the highest since January 1995, when it reached 6.5 percent. A year ago, the state's unemployment rate was 4.1 percent.

The last time Florida's jobless rate hit 6 percent was in January 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

The rate is 2 percentage points higher than July 2007 and above the national average of 5.7 percent.

The July figures continue the trend that began in September, primarily due to declines in construction and the housing market.