Palm Beach County unemployment rate dips as no recession materializes

A recession did not materialize and Palm Beach County workers will conclude 2023 enjoying a "terrific" labor market, local and state officials reported on Friday, Dec. 22

In their last employment report of the year, CareerSource Palm Beach County and the Florida Commerce Department said the jobless rate for November stood at 3.1%, down 0.15% from October. While the the figure was higher than the year-ago 2.6%, officials noted the county’s rate was under the national rate of 3.5% and comparable to Florida’s 2.9%.

"It's really solid," said Tom Veentrsa, CareerSource vice president of administration, pointing out that economists generally say between 3% and 4% constitutes full employment. "We've been, actually, in an overheated job market for so long now, two or years or so, and to still have it in this range is really terrific."