Two reports released on Thursday offered sharply different looks at jobs and the economy in Florida.
Florida TaxWatch unveiled a report noting that 230,000 new jobs were created in the Sunshine State during 2014 as part of an almost 10 percent job growth rate over the last four years. The reports found professional and business services, the leisure and hospitality and the construction industries were spurring job growth in Florida with retail, which had been the leading sector of job creation in 2013, fourth in terms of job growth.
“Florida is outpacing the rest of the nation in job growth due to sound fiscal and regulatory policy,” said former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., the chairman of Florida TaxWatch’s Center for Competitive Florida. “But the story goes beyond just job creation. Now, Florida is creating jobs across a broad spectrum of industries and we are building a more vibrant and resilient economy. With continued leadership, Florida has the opportunity to become a dominant economic region in the Americas.”
Dominic Calabro, the president and CEO of Florida TaxWatch, also offered a glowing assessment of job growth and the economy in the Sunshine State.
“Florida’s economy is rebounding successfully from the recession, and one of the largest indicators of our economy’s growth is the consistent addition of high-wage jobs,” said Calabro. “For the first time in four years, all sectors of the Florida economy added jobs, and our state’s unemployment rate finally matches the national average. While Florida’s job growth in 2014 deserves celebration, Floridians should be optimistic about jobs in 2015, as well as the targeted investments made by our state’s policymakers that are sure to pay dividends to all taxpayers and residents.”
But liberal group Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) looked at Florida as well on Thursday, insisting almost a third of jobs in the state offer wages below the poverty line: $23,283 for a family of four.
In its “2015 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard,” CEFD ranked Florida as 43rd in the nation when it comes to job wages and 41st for annual pay ($44,179). According to CEFD, Florida was 40th when it came to underemployed workers including those employed part-time and those who have stopped looking for jobs.
Alice Vickers, the executive director for the Florida Alliance for Consumer Protection, went to bat for CEFD on Thursday and called for raising the state minimum wage.
“Passing legislation that would increase the minimum wage is imperative to raise the incomes of our lowest paid workers, but Florida also needs to consider a range of measures that will help these workers keep more of the money they earn,” Vickers said. “Those efforts should include expanding free tax preparation services offered by Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites, which help low-income workers access benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, while avoiding costly fees charged by commercial and unregulated tax preparers.”
CEFD’s “2015 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard” gave Florida low marks across the board due to few Floridians having saving accounts and worst credit when compared to residents of other states. Florida also got low marks on housing, jobs, health care and average marks on education.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
