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States with the best (and worst) job growth

Some states have fared much better than others in reducing their unemployment rates in the past year. Can you guess which boom state was among those that backtracked?

3. Florida (+1.7 percent)

Charlie Neibergall/AP/File
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, left, rakes a field with grounds crew workers during a work day before a baseball spring training exhibition game between the Detroit Tigers and the Atlanta Braves in Lakeland, Fla. in February. Scott has made jobs the centerpiece of his administration since coming to office in 2011.

Civilian labor force population: 9,427,100

May 2013 unemployment rate: 7.1 percent

Florida hit its lowest unemployment rate since 2008 in April, and the workforce has been growing for 12 months straight.  According to the Florida Economic Estimating Conference  (FEC), more than 300,000 private sector jobs have been created in the state since 2009, and the jobs created total is expected to hit 900,00 by 2018.

Governor Rick Scott has made job creation a centerpiece of his administration, making a well-publicized push to lure more large companies to his state with tax incentives on top of Florida’s already low tax obligations.  His latest coup is online retail giant Amazon, which announced in mid-June that it would build warehouses in Florida and create 3,000 jobs.  Of the five states with the best job growth over the past year, only Florida and Washington have unemployment rates below the 7.6 percent national average. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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