The U.S Oficina de Estadísticas Laborales surveys roughly 60,000 households each month in over 2,000 geographic areas to determine the unemployment rate; the sample is chosen to be as representative as possible of the entire population. Survey respondents are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, but desire one and have actively sought work in the past four weeks. While the unemployment rate in Florida remains higher than the United States, its recession began earlier. Additionally, Florida’s unemployment rate has fallen at a faster pace than most other states this past year.
Source: United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
*Seasonal Adjustement—The size of the labor force, the levels of employment and unemployment, and other measures of labor market activity undergo fluctuations due to seasonal events including changes in weather, harvests, major holidays, and school schedules. Seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each year so their influence on statistical trends can be eliminated by seasonally adjusting the statistics from month to month making it easier to observe the cyclical, underlying trend, and other nonseasonal movements in the series.