Florida unemployment drops as state recovers from hurricane

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida’s unemployment continues to drop as the state regains jobs it lost after Hurricane Irma.

State officials announced Friday that the unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in October, down 0.2 points from the month before and lower than the national rate of 4.1 percent.

The state lost more than 127,000 jobs after Irma struck in September. Last month the state gained 125,300 jobs.

There are now 369,000 jobless Floridians out of a workforce of 10.1 million people.

Okaloosa and St. Johns counties had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.7 percent, followed by Franklin and Gulf counties at 2.8 percent.

Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate at 7.3 percent, followed by Hardee County at 5.8 percent and Glades County at 5 percent.