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Unemployment
Unemployment, especially
long-term unemployment, can have wide-ranging negative impacts on
Pinellas County’s families, especially families with children. In
addition to the immediate loss of income and its consequences,
unemployment may affect marital and family relationships, increase
alcoholism and homelessness and result in physical and mental health
problems. A parent’s unemployment can be particularly damaging to a
child and result in a decline in school performance, behavioral
problems and child abuse.
Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate is an important indicator of labor
market conditions. It is calculated by dividing the number of
out-of-work individuals, 16 years or older, in the civilian
labor force who are actively seeking employment by the total
civilian labor force. Individuals who are unemployed and stop
looking for a job are not considered to be in the labor force
and, for that reason, the unemployment rate and the number of
unemployed can, at times, be somewhat misleading – it can appear
that unemployment is improving when, in fact, people have given
up on looking for a job. The unemployment rate is considered to
be a lagging economic indicator – it tends to change direction
after the overall economy has changed.
Pinellas County Unemployment Rate
Pinellas County’s estimated unemployment rate (not
seasonally adjusted) in June 2010 increased 5.5% above June 2009
to 11.6%, the smallest year-to-year increase since 2007.
Pinellas’ rate was the same as the state average and 21% above
the national average of 9.6%
- On a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. unemployment rate
in June 2010 was 9.5% vs. 11.4% for Florida. Comparable
seasonally adjusted data for Pinellas County is not available.
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Pinellas County Number of Unemployed
The number of Pinellas County unemployed in June 2010
increased 5% over the prior year to an estimated 52,151, the
smallest year-to-year percent increase since Feb 2007.
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