HispanicBusiness

Florida jobless rate in September dipped to 8.7 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month and 1.7 percentage points lower than the same time last year, state officials said Friday.

Florida added 3,500 new private-sector jobs over the month, but those were mostly offset by the loss of 2,700 government jobs. There are now about 808,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 9.3 million.

In Central Florida, the jobless rate fell to 8.4 percent in September, down from 8.7 percent in August. The metro area lead the state in year-over-year growth -- September 2012 compared with September 2011 -- by adding 18,800 jobs, an increase of just less than 2 percent.

Florida's jobless rate has been in a slow decline for 22 months. Job creation, however, has been modest.

Gov. Rick Scott, who has staked his political future on job creation, said the numbers show two things: "We still have more work to do to grow our economy, and we are heading the right direction."