Oct. 17--UPDATED: 36 MIN. AGO

TAMPA -- Florida's unemployment rate held steady at 6.6 percent in September compared with August, but it is the highest rate since October 1994.

About 613,000 Floridians were out of work, according to The Agency for Workforce Innovation, effectively the state's labor and training department.

The steady monthly numbers are good, but a University of Central Florida economist called the news the "calm before the storm" and warned that job losses will rise in the coming weeks.

"We haven't seen the worst," said Sean Snaith, director of UCF's Institute for Economic Competitiveness. "Unemployment is a lagging indicator and reflects none of what's been going on in recent weeks. We can expect many more jobs lost as the U.S. economy slips into recession."

Job growth has suffered, the agency said. The state reported an annual nonagricultural job growth rate of -1.4, which translates into a loss of 115,500 jobs compared with last year. The national growth rate is -0.4 percent.

The last time the state's unemployment rate was this high was October 1994, when 6.6 percent of the work force was out of a job. The rate is above that of a year ago, when the state reported a 4.2 percent unemployment rate.

Locally, the picture was similar. Unemployment rates showed no change on a monthly basis but are higher than this time last year.

In Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties, the unemployment rate was 7.0 percent, the same as in August. In September 2007, the rate was 4.5 percent.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.

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