In a recent article published by USA TODAY, Highlands County ranked eighth in the nation for employment gains in 2017.
Only one other Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) made the list of “Top 25 cities adding (and losing) the most jobs in 2017.” The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Fla., MSA ranked 17th on the list.
Employment statistics are published by MSA. The Sebring MSA covers all of Highlands County.
As noted in the article, 1,625 (+4.8 percent) new jobs were created in Highlands County this year. The unemployment number for October 2017 was 4.4 percent, which is down more than two percentage points from 6.7 percent in October 2016. The strongest sector was the Professional and Business Services sector, which experienced a 5 percent increase.
“This is great news,” said Commissioner Jim Brooks, county commissioner district 1 and industrial development authority liaison. “It is easy to get swept in to the challenges that we are working through and lose sight of the progress that we have made. We have many stakeholders who are diligently working to improve our economy and this is a testament to their efforts.”
View the article at https://usat.ly/2kmjEqT.