Florida Sees Highest Quarterly Visitation on Record in 2024; Employment Approaches 10M

The April 2024 edition of Florida By The Numbers is now available. Florida Chamber Foundation Vice President of Research Keith Richard takes us on an exclusive journey through the Florida 2030 Blueprint's Six Pillars Framework, specifically highlighting some of the latest metrics that matter to securing Florida's future as a top 10 global economy by 2030.

Some of the metrics covered in this update include:

• From the Talent Supply & Education Pillar -
• 45,300 jobs were added this month, marking the largest monthly employment increase this year and bringing Florida's employment to nearly 10 million.
• With the exception of Financial Services, 7 of the 8 major private industries in Florida added jobs since April 2023. Education and Health Services once again had the largest number and percentage in job growth month-over-month, and healthcare occupations remained the most in-demand.
• Florida's unemployment rate increased slightly in April to 3.3%, bringing the Floridians looking for work to open jobs ratio to 86:100.
• From the Infrastructure & Growth Leadership Pillar - 
• Single-family housing sales were down over 10% in March compared to last year. The fairly steady median sale price is a deviation from the trend of skyrocketing prices. Inventory also continues to be on the rise.
• From the Business Climate & Competitiveness Pillar -
• After months of unexpected increases, the inflation rate dropped in April, with national inflation at 3.4% and southern region inflation at 3.3%.
• Consumer sentiment increased in April, likely due to improvement in Floridian's views about the national economic outlook over the next five years.
• From the Quality of Life & Quality Places Pillar -
• The number of visitors in 2023 surpassed the previous record set in 2022, with over 140 million individuals travelling to Florida, over 129 million being domestic. The first quarter of 2024 had the highest quarterly visitation on record, a promising indicator for another record-breaking year in 2024.

These metrics and more are found on TheFloridaScorecard.org.