On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Florida’s unemployment rate stood at 2.8 percent in October, the same as it had been in September.

The national unemployment rate stood at 3.9 percent in October.

“Florida is bucking the national trends and we continue to see job growth month after month,” said DeSantis. “In Florida, we are driving economic success through smart investments in workforce education, strong infrastructure and local community development.”

“Through Governor DeSantis’ Freedom First policies — policies that elevate job seekers and job creators — Florida continues to go against the grain with gains in vital sectors like trade, transportation and utilities in addition to education and health services, while the nation’s job growth lags behind,” said state Commerce Sec. J. Alex Kelly. “The governor’s approach is a constant focus on the key drivers of long-term workforce and economic readiness, a blueprint based on owning the results and being able to hedge against national trends, rather than waiting for empty promises from federal bureaucrats.”

Education and health services have led the state in job growth with 90,100 new jobs over the past year, followed by the trade, transportation, and utilities sector with 64,400 new jobs, professional and business services with 36,100 new jobs, the leisure and hospitality field with 28,900 new jobs, total government with 25,500 new jobs, and financial activities with 17,800 jobs. Over the past year, Florida has lost jobs in only one sector as the information field lost 4,100 jobs.

Miami-Dade County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate in October at 1.6 percent, followed by Monroe County at 2.0 percent, Gulf County at 2.7 percent, and Okaloosa County and St. Johns County at 2.8 percent each.

Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate in Florida last month at 5.1 percent, followed by Hamilton County at 5.0 percent, Citrus County at 4.6 percent, and Hardee County and Highlands County at 4.5 percent each.