Miami Government Jobs Account for Majority of Monthly Loss

The loss of Miami government jobs accounted for the majority of the city's monthly decrease in employment during July.

That month, the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall area's unemployment rate increased from 12.8 percent to 13.2 percent, which is higher than the national average of 9.5 percent.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Miami area had a total non-farm employment of 959,200 workers during July, which is lower than 964,000 workers during June and the exact same as July 2009.

The majority of that monthly employment loss came from the government industry, which lost 3,400 jobs between June and July, resulting in a total of 138,400 workers. However, the industry increased by .1 percent on a yearly basis.

Only two industries managed to see a monthly increase in employment, including education and health services by 2,300 jobs and financial activities by 300 jobs.

Employment in the manufacturing industry remained even over the month with 35,400 jobs. Employment in the mining and logging industry remained even over the month and year with 300 jobs.

Four other industries managed to add jobs on a yearly basis during July. The education and health services industry saw the biggest increase, growing by 2.8 percent over the year, to 159,600 jobs.

The professional and business services industry increased by 2 percent to 130,100 workers, while the leisure and hospitality industry grew by 1.6 percent to 102,200 jobs, and the trade, transportation and utilities industry increased by .3 percent to 244,000 workers.

The information industry saw the biggest employment drop over the year, losing 8.4 percent of its workforce between July 2009 and July 2010, making for a current total of 16,400 jobs.

Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include: construction by 6.9 percent; financial activities by 5.3 percent; manufacturing by 3.8 percent; and other services by 2.3 percent.