TALLAHASSEE — The state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 3.4 percent in November after holding steady at 3.3 percent since April, according to a report released Friday by the Florida Department of Commerce.

The new rate reflects an estimated 376,000 Floridians qualifying as out of work in mid-November — 7,000 more than in October — from a labor force of 11.015 million people. The labor force was down by 14,000 people from October and 46,000 from November 2023.

The national unemployment rate last month was 4.2 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate in November 2023 was 3.1 percent

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area had the lowest unemployment rate last month at 3 percent. Next lowest were the Panama City and the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin areas at 3.4 percent.

The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area rate was 3.5 percent; the Jacksonville area was 3.6 percent; the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent area was 3.7 percent; and the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater was 3.8 percent. The North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area, which took the brunt of Milton at landfall, was 3.9 percent.

The highest rate was in the Homosassa Springs area at 5.5 percent. The Villages and Sebring areas were 5.1 percent.

State economists attribute the reduction in the labor force to a rise in retirees. But a Florida Chamber Foundation report this year also cited what it called an “out migration” from the state of a sizable number of people ages 20 to 29.

2 charged with animal cruelty after 33 dogs seized in 2023 from ‘filthy conditions’ in Ocoee

“If we lose a large portion of the population from 20-29, while gaining a large population of retirement-age individuals who are not working, it contributes to a reduced labor force participation rate, which has been the trend in Florida,” the report said.

Florida got hammered this year by Hurricane Debby in August, Hurricane Helene in September and Hurricane Milton in October, leading to some temporary increases in unemployment claims. But Jimmy Heckman, the Department of Commerce’s chief of workforce statistics and economic research, told reporters during a conference call Friday that the state has seen “broad recovery” in the past month.

“Leisure and hospitality (businesses) added back over 30,000 jobs in one month (November). That was well over the amount of jobs that were lost in October,” Heckman said. “That sector was really the hardest hit. That’s the sector where you see a lot of part-time jobs that are subject to temporary closures, as those are the types of jobs that tend to be located in hurricane-affected areas.”

Among other sectors, construction added 7,600 jobs in November, while a broad category of trade, transportation and utilities added 11,000, including 7,600 in retail trade.

The statewide rate is seasonally adjusted while the metro rates are not adjusted.