Local Unemployment at 10.5 percent.

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The Times Union sees this steady rate as a cause for optimism---no extra unemployed apparently.  But who knows what the real number are.

If it keeps up, it will cause its own decline.

http://jacksonville.com/business/2009-09-18/story/jacksonville_unemployment_rate_steady_but_high_at_105_percent

Jacksonville’s unemployment rate remained high at 10.5 percent in August but was little changed from the last two months, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation reported today.

The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area č consisting of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties č was 10.6 percent in both June and July, the state labor agency said.

The data supports what many analysts have been saying recently: the recession seems to be over, meaning that conditions aren’t getting any worse. But they also don’t expect to see much improvement anytime soon, so unemployment should remain high.

“There are still many more people than there are opportunities,” said Angie Tekin of Oasis Staffing, who is also president of the Jacksonville chapter of the Florida Staffing Association.

“The competition is extremely tough for the positions that are open,” she said.

The state labor agency reported that Jacksonville area businesses cut 23,000 jobs from their payrolls from August 2008 through August 2009, a 3.7 percent decline. The only industry sector to show an increase in jobs in that time is education and health services, which added 700 jobs, or 0.9 percent.

The biggest declines continue to come from the construction sector, which lost 5,200 jobs in the past year, or 12.5 percent.

Statewide, Florida’s unemployment fell by 0.1 percentage point to a seasonally-adjusted 10.7 percent in August.

“The relative stability of Florida’s unemployment rate over the past few months is encouraging. We anticipate improvement in Florida’s job market in the second quarter of next year and are already seeing glimmers of hope to that effect,” Agency for Workforce Innovation Director Cynthia Lorenzo said in a press release.

The Georgia Department of Labor reported Thursday that the state’s unemployment rate also fell by 0.1-point to a seasonally-adjusted 10.2 percent in August. But Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond sounded more pessimistic.

“The slight decline in the August unemployment rate appears to be a bit of positive news. However, a closer examination reveals that the reduction was primarily due to work force shrinkage,” he said in a press release.

The Florida labor agency does not provide seasonally adjusted data for Jacksonville. But according to the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project, when the data is seasonally adjusted, it shows an increase in the Jacksonville area jobless rate from 9.4 percent in July to 9.6 percent in August.

“It continues to indicate that while some sectors of the economy are improving, the employment sector is not,” said UNF economist Paul Mason.

While workers are having a tough time finding permanent jobs, Tekin said demand for temporary workers is picking up. She said that’s a good leading indicator of an improving job market, because businesses tend to hire temps at the first signs of an improved economy. As the rebound continues, businesses then make permanent hires.