Sep. 19--TALLAHASSEE -- The jobless rate in Hernando County improved slightly in August, but the economic outlook for Florida remains bleak during the next eight months, economists said.

Hernando County posted a 13.3 percent unemployment rate for August, down from 13.4 in July.

Judging by the numbers, the decrease in the number of out-of-work residents is due in large part to the decline in the labor force rather than a surge in job numbers.

The labor force in July for Hernando County was 63,441 with 8,477 of them unemployed, according to the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

For August, the labor force declined by 155 to 63,286. There were 8,438 unemployed -- a decrease of 39.

"We're to remain in a downturn until the second quarter of 2010," said AWI Chief Economist Rebecca Rust.

By that time, she said, the unemployment rate for the state could peak at 11 percent -- it's currently at 10.7 percent -- and growth will be slower than normal.

Rust said the jobless rate in Florida isn't expected to go below 6 percent until 2018.

Others emphasized the more-positive news that the jobless rate actually decreased slightly in August.

"The relative stability of Florida's unemployment rate over the past few months is encouraging," said AWI Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo. "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."

Hernando has the sixth-highest unemployment out of the state's 67 counties. Pasco County is 14th at 12.1 percent and Citrus is 17th at 11.9 percent.

The Tampa metropolitan area, which includes Hernando, Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties -- had an unemployment rate of 11.3 percent in August.

Nearly every sector -- with the exception of health care -- has seen a year-over-year decrease in employment.

Construction has taken the worst beating, with an increased jobless rate of 12.6 percent compared to August 2008. Manufacturing is next at 12.2 percent.

Construction, however, did improve from July to August, increasing by 1.3 percent, according to AWI.

The total number of unemployed workers in the state crept closer to the 1 million mark. There were 984,000 Floridians who were jobless in August.

The current recession has led to the worst job market numbers since 1975, Rust said.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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