ESTERO, FLA. -Governor Rick Scott announced the state's recent job numbers during a visit to Hertz's new global headquarters in Estero on Friday.
Relocating the car rental giant's headquarters to Southwest Florida has been in the works for quite some time. Media and public officials were invited to tour the new 248,600 foot facility, spanning three floors, partially powered by solar panels.
The car giant employs 4,000 Florida employees and reports being the second largest workforce in the country.
"If you're in Lee County or Collier County, they are growing counties, Scott said. "Their unemployment rates are low, there are a lot of job openings. Lee County, in particular, just added 7,500 jobs in the last 12 months."
Scott commended Hertz for "partially" having a part in helping create jobs in Lee County and contributing to the job growth in the state. There is room for up to 850 employees and currently about 625 positions are filled. The car renting giant is looking to fill
According to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, in five years, 1,025,400 private-sector jobs have been created in Florida. The state celebrated one million new private-sector jobs milestone in November 2015.
Florida's annual private-sector job growth rate has exceeded that of the nation for 44 consecutive months, and is now 3.5 percent. The state's unemployment rate has declined by 5.7 percentage points since December 2010.
Other key points according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity:
- Florida's private-sector job growth month-to-month has been positive for 50 consecutive months.
- Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs over the month in December were professional and business services with 8,400 new jobs and trade, transportation, and utilities with 5,200 new jobs.
- Florida job postings showed 282,386 openings in December 2015.
In December, Florida's 24 regional workforce boards reported more than 37,932 Floridians, including 1,847 veterans, were placed in jobs.
