While DeSantis Touts FL's Unemployment Rate, Labor Advocates Predict Hard Times Ahead

TAMPA, FL — On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis trumpeted the fact that Florida now has the lowest unemployment rate among the top 10 largest states in the nation.

In April, Florida's unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the fourth consecutive month, which is 0.8 percentage points lower than the national rate of 3.4 percent.

According to DeSantis, Florida’s statewide unemployment rate has remained lower than the national rate for 30 consecutive months since November 2020, and he gave much of the credit for those bragging rights to Florida's booming tourism industry, which he said has continued to provide Florida with economic stability while other states are suffering the effects of inflation.

At the same time DeSantis patted himself on the back for overseeing the historic post-pandemic economic turnaround, the governor's critics said DeSantis' vision of prosperity may be short-lived.

They say the very Florida industries that are raking in profits today are in for a rude awakening once the governor's sweeping immigration reforms passed in the Legislature this session go into effect July 1.

The new immigration laws combined with inflation rates creeping up, an onslaught of new residents moving to Florida at DeSantis' invitation, the rising cost of renting and buying homes and mounting homeowners insurance rates are putting Florida on the path of widespread poverty and despair.

The Good News

Between April 2022 and April 2023, Florida’s total private sector employment grew by 336,200 jobs (4.1 percent), which is faster than the national private sector job growth rate of 2.7 percent during the same time period, said DeSantis.

Except for October 2022, DeSantis said Florida employers have added jobs for 35 months from May 2020 to April. Florida’s over-the-year private sector job growth rate has exceeded the nation’s growth rate for 25 consecutive months since April 2021.

“Through strong economic policy and strategic investments, Florida is outperforming the nation and providing more opportunity for its citizens, resulting in more than 200,000 new business formations this year alone and an unemployment rate near an all-time low,” said DeSantis. “In Florida, we are combatting negative national economic headwinds by promoting policies that support Florida businesses and families and attract record numbers of tourists every day.”

That assertion is borne out in tourism statistics provided by Florida's tourism bureau, Visit Florida.

Between January and March, Florida saw a record 37.9 million visitors, the largest volume of visitors ever recorded in a single quarter. And, in April, the labor force was 10,960,000, an increase of 5.8 percent since February 2020.

Florida welcomed 37.9 million total visitors between January and March, according to Visit Florida estimates. This is the largest volume of visitors ever recorded for a single quarter. A record high of approximately 34.6 million domestic visitors traveled to Florida in Q1 2023, continuing the trend of domestic visitation growth for an eighth consecutive quarter.

The state also saw 1.8 million overseas travelers in Q1 2023, an increase of 36 percent from Q1 2022, he said. This marks the closest that overseas visitation has come to full recovery since the onset of the pandemic. Total flights at 19 Florida airports rose 11.8 percent in Q1 2023 from Q1 2022, reaching 27.6 million visitors.

“The Q1 estimates show that 2023 is on track to continue Florida’s outstanding performance in welcoming visitors,” said Dana Young, president and CEO of Visit Florida. “Each quarter shows that Florida is the most sought-after destination for visitors and we are excited to continue our efforts in welcoming more throughout the year.”

Meredith Ivey, acting secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, credits DeSantis' Freedom First policies with Florida's current prosperity.

Ivey said the Freedom First budget give Floridians the freedom to use their incomes to support their families, instead of supporting more government. Because of Freedom First's investments in Florida's communities, Florida has continued to see economic growth, job growth and labor force expansion, she said.

The Freedom First budget provided $1.24 billion in tax relief to Floridians last year, including a gas tax holiday that lowered the price of gas in Florida by 25.3 cents and saved Floridians $200 million, and free tolls for regular commuters.

“Florida’s low unemployment rate of 2.6 percent — the lowest among the top 10 largest states in the nation — is a testament to Gov. DeSantis' bold leadership,” said Ivey. “Gov. DeSantis’ Freedom First policies are helping Florida businesses continue to create jobs and Floridians feel confident in the meaningful job opportunities available to them, ensuring the economic prosperity of the great state of Florida and its residents.”

Additionally, DeSantis said Florida’s labor force grew over-the-year by 2.3 percent (248,000), faster than the national labor force growth rate of 1.7 percent.

In April, Florida’s labor force grew by 0.3 percent (38,000), while the national labor force declined by less than 0.1 percent over the month. Total private employment increased by 18,200 (+0.2 percent).

Also last month, the professional and business services sector gained the most jobs among all major industries, adding 10,900 jobs (+0.7 percent) from the previous month, followed by education and health services with 7,100 jobs (+0.5 percent) and financial activities with the addition of 2,700 jobs (+0.4 percent), according to DeSantis.

Ivey said data from the month of April indicates there are many job opportunities available for Floridians throughout the state, with more than 464,000 jobs posted online.

Are Florida Farms Doomed?

Critics say Florida's vibrant economy won't last, particularly since the passage of DeSantis' sweeping immigrant reform last week.

Farming associations and farmworkers advocacy groups say Florida's Senate Bill 1718 and House Bill 1617 will have a chilling impact on the fate of commercial and family farms and the laborers who work on the farms.

While Florida is home to industries ranging from tourism to pharmaceuticals to aerospace, it's also a state with a significant agricultural industry, said the Migration Policy Institute.

"The state has the fourth-largest foreign-born population with approximately four million immigrants and ranks first for the number of Hispanic immigrants," said the institute.

According to the National Immigration Forum, Florida has 9.4 million acres of commercial farms representing a $7 billion industry, including more than 70 percent of the nation's orange groves.

"Many of Florida's key agricultural products are particularly labor intensive," said the forum. "Florida agriculture has among the highest rates of labor expenses — 28 percent — in the country."

And more than one in five residents of Florida are immigrants, a total population of 4.3 million, which accounts for about 20 percent of the state's population, according to The Farmworker Association of Florida Inc.

Related:

• Latino Advocacy Group Issues Travel Advisory For Florida
• Tensions Emerge On Floor, As Florida Senate Passes Immigration Crackdown
• 'Overwhelming' Numbers Of Cubans Make 94-Mile Trip To FL, Democracy
• Lawsuit Targets FL On Behalf Of Refugees Given 'False Promises'

Among the immigrants, 2.48 million, or 57.4 percent, were born in different countries but identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino.

In 2019, Florida granted more H-2A visa certifications of any state in the U.S., giving seasonal migrant workers the ability to work in the state legally.

While the association lauded this effort to give sanctuary to migrant farmworkers, it noted that many Florida farms are completely cut out from the program because they hire year-round workers.

With the increase in the state's minimum wage, the association said farmers have come to depend on undocumented farmworkers willing to work for below-minimum wages.

Currently, about 70 percent of the total U.S. farming labor force is made up of undocumented farmworkers. More than 55 percent of undocumented farmworkers have been living in the U.S. for 10 or more years, many working for decades on the same farm.

Immigrant advocates, farming co-ops and religious organizations that aid migrant farmworkers have been meeting around Florida to discuss the impact of the new immigration law, which takes effect July 1.

According to the forum, more than 55 percent have been living in the U.S. for more 10 or more years, many working for decades on the same farm and have children were born and are being raised as U.S. citizens.

Under the new law, businesses with more than 25 employees will be mandated to use the federal government's E-Verify system to determine if their employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S.

The law will also invalidate driver's licenses issued in other states to undocumented workers, preventing farms from using them to truck crops to distribution centers and markets.

Fearing imprisonment, deportation and separation from their U.S.-born children, the association said farm workers have begun leaving the state en masse.

Farmers say, without their labor, thousands of acres of strawberries, tomatoes and other vegetables will be left to rot in fields.

"It's one of the cruelest immigration bills ever passed in the state of Florida," said Nezahualcoyoti Xiuhtecutli, general coordinator and principal investigator for the association

Not only does it impact the ability of farmworkers with "unregulated immigration statuses" to earn a living in Florida, he said, the legislation also requires hospitals that accept Medicaid and have emergency departments to gather information on the immigration status of their patients, even during emergency visits.

As a result, the health and welfare of thousands of undocumented workers is at risk, he said.

"In addition, the law deems it a felony, carrying a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, to transport individuals without a regulated immigration status into Florida. This includes individuals accompanying you, such as friends, co-workers or family members, even if you are a permanent resident of Florida," said Xiuhtecutli.

"It saddens us to know that a vast majority of our neighbors will be harshly affected. These representatives only think of their personal wins," said Xiuhtecutli. "Who will harvest the crops we eat every day and that we depend upon for our sustenance?"

He said the legislation will also impact thousands of children left behind as their parents are imprisoned or deported.

"They do not think that our children will be the ones most affected," Xiuhtecutli said. "For a child, it is devastating to have one parent held in a deportation facility and another being detained and imprisoned for 15 years. The trauma to the child will last a lifetime. Who will take care of and console the children who will be left behind because of the separation of their families?"

The farm industry isn't the only business sector that will suffer, he said.

A large population of undocumented immigrants work as day laborers in the construction industry, provide cleaning services for homes, hotels and businesses, work in the food industry and keep Floridians' lawns mowed and bushes trimmed.

He predicts that the immigration laws will eventually devastate Florida's now-thriving tourism and construction industries.

"Who will continue providing roofing work, cleaning services, food service in restaurants, landscaping, home and commercial construction, nursing care in our hospitals and nursing homes, and so much more?" he asked. "This is not the Florida we want. This is not the Florida that our families have worked to help build, and where they live and love, and now they are being targeted. Passing such legislation to score political points is unconscionable."

Jobs Vs. Liveable Wages

Labor advocacy groups point out, as well, that the 464,000 jobs Ivey mentioned that are posted online don't necessarily guarantee a liveable wage for workers.

In 2020, Florida voters passed a minimum wage increase. The measure increased the minimum wage from $10 to $11 an hour ($22,880 a year) through September, when the minimum wage will increase to $12 an hour. The measure increases the minimum wage in increments, ultimately reaching $15 an hour by 2026.

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator, the living wage for a single adult is $17.72 per hour. A family of two adults and one child with one parent working would need to make $$34.27 an hour to live. A wage of $11 an hour would put that family at the poverty level.

Nationwide, more than 53 million Americans are working in low-wage jobs, and roughly six in 10 workers report being in "mediocre" or "bad" jobs, according to The Good Jobs & Equity Project.

“For decades, governments have focused mostly on the quantity of jobs created, not the quality of those jobs. But that is changing," said Michele Jolin, CEO and co-founder of Results for America. "Communities are taking steps to lift wages, improve benefits, provide stable schedules and ensure voice, dignity and purpose for workers."

Results for America is a national nonprofit organization that helps policymakers at all levels of government effectively use evidence and data to increase the impact of the more than $2 trillion that governments spend each year to open opportunities and advance economic mobility.

In partnership with Career Source Tampa Bay, Results for America has chosen Tampa as one of 12 U.S jurisdictions to take part in the Results for America's Good Jobs & Equity Project, backed by the Families & Workers Fund.

The Families & Workers Fund has at its disposal $65 million, which will be used to help these jurisdictions implement innovative job quality strategies that promote economic mobility and strengthen local economies.

Through the Good Jobs & Equity Project, which runs through December 2024, the 12 jurisdictions will receive the tools, resources and skills needed to build and use evidence and data to create high-quality jobs. The project will also identify the most effective evidence-based strategies for improving job quality in more communities across the country.

“We’re thrilled to support state and local leaders through RFA’s Good Jobs & Equity Project as they leverage historic federal investments to provide good jobs that sustain and uplift all residents,” said Rachel Korberg, executive director of the Families and Workers Fund. “These innovative projects will be models for communities across the country looking to break down the racial, gender and other inequities that have left too many Americans behind.”

Security Over Jobs

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, who sponsored the Senate verion of the immigration bill, said the pros of cracking down on undocumented immigrants far outweigh the cons.

“Our southern border has been dealing with a manmade crisis under the ineptness of President Biden, allowing more than 6.3 million illegal immigrants to flood our border,” said Ingoglia.

He said it's not college-educated professionals who are illegally crossing into the U.S. It's people who have been convicted of violent crimes; people who are intent on smuggling fentanyl, cocaine and other illegal drugs across the border; and human traffickers who are exploiting women through the sex trade and farmworkers forced to labor under intolerable conditions.

All these people, he said, put the security of Floridians at risk, noting that these are not asylum seekers or people fleeing from an authoritarian government who may be eligible for naturalization.

At a joint news conference on April 27, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the U.S. Border Patrol is in a war against "smugglers, human traffickers and nefarious actors."

"The know our loopholes well and continue to exploit them," Mayorkas, an immigrant himself, said. "To truly keep the American people safe, we must end legal loopholes that have left us with policies that serve as tremendous magnets for illegal immigration."

Blinken said the government has taken aggressive action to stem the tide of illegal immigrants with the expiration of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's temporary Title 42 public health order last week, initated during the pandemic to prevent immigration into the country on the basis of health concerns.

At the same time, he said the Biden administration is instituting a comprehensive plan to make it safer, more orderly and more humane for immigrants with a legitimate reason to come to the United States.

"Globally, there are more than 100 million people on the move today, compelled to leave their homes in search of security and better lives. That is more people than at any time in recorded history," said Blinken.

"And in our own hemisphere, we are facing an unprecedented migration challenge. Long-term drivers like violence, corruption, lack of economic opportunity, continue to push people from their homes — problems that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, crises of governance, extreme weather events caused by the changing climate. Twenty million people are displaced across this hemisphere, and the strain on transit and host countries is high," Blinken said.

He said while the U.S. is investing in programs designed to stabilize third-world countries so residents aren't desperate to flee, "we’re significantly expanding access to lawful pathways for migration for those in need, including the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. For too many people in too many places, these pathways feel far from reach," he said.

"We’re working to create more opportunities, and to make them more accessible," Blinken said. "The United States welcomed six times as many refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean in 2022 than during the previous year. We’re on track to more than double those arrivals in 2023."

These pathways aren't limited to new immigrants but also to those who have been living in the United States without legal documentation for years — working hard, raising families and otherwise behaving as model citizens seeking better lives for their families.

It's the bad actors that Homeland Security is targeting, said Mayorkas.

"This is particularly important because we have a humanitarian obligation to cut the smugglers out. We have seen a dramatic rise in the reach, sophistication and cruelty of the smuggling organizations over the past 10 years and the challenges that presents," Mayorkas said.

"The comprehensive plan we have developed and are executing takes this reality into account. We are building lawful pathways for people to come to the United States without resorting to the smugglers," he said. "At the same time, we are imposing consequences on those who do not use those pathways and instead irregularly migrate to our southern border."

To view the April 2023 jobs reports by region, see below:

• Fort Lauderdale
• Jacksonville
• Miami
• Orlando
• Pensacola
• Southwest Florida
• Tampa
• West Palm Beach

To view the April 2023 employment data, click here.