There's still seven months until voters decide who will sit in the governor's office for the next four years.
The jabs are already coming in the gubernatorial race. Gov. Rick Scott is facing a challenge from former governor Charlie Crist. Crist is running as a Democrat for his old office. The candidate is trying to paint Scott as breaking his promises to Floridians.
On Crist's campaign website, the candidate claims:
"Florida is ranked second in the nation in long-term unemployment."
PolitiFact rated this claim HALF TRUE. Reporter Joshua Gillin said the numbers are right, but the problem is with the interpretation of the statistics.
"Problem with this, like with all statistics, you can look at it many different ways," Gillin said. "Different economists that we spoke with put it in different ways."
Crist cited analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. The EPI calculated that 46.2 percent of laid-off Floridians were out of work for at least six months in 2013. Two other areas had higher rates, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., at 46.6 percent.
The report uses data from the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Statistics. But when the data is drilled down by state, the margin of error goes up. Florida economics don't dispute the numbers, but say there are other ways to measure long-term unemployment.
Experts also pointed to a considerable decline in the Sunshine State's unemployment rate in 2013.
Gillin said the other issue with Crist's claim is that Crist appears to be assigning blame to Scott.
"(Experts) said that this is one of those things you can take credit (for), but don't want to take the blame," Gillin said.
Because the statistics can be read in different ways and Florida's recovery can't necessarily be credited to a governor's actions, Politifact rated this claim HALF TRUE.
Sources: Crist's claim on Florida's unemployment
- PolitiFact's ruling
- Charlie Crist campaign website, "Rick Scott’s desperation is starting to show," April 25, 2014
- Let’s Get to Work political committee for Gov. Rick Scott, TV ad ‘Ran Away," April 2014
- Economic Policy Institute, "Long-term unemployment exceeds pre-great recession levels in virtually every state," Jan. 29, 2014
- U.S. Bureau of Statistics, Table 26. States: unemployed persons by sex,race,Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and duration of unemployment, 2012 annual averages
- Orlando Sentinel, "Florida second in nationa for long-term unemployment," Feb. 8, 2014
- Moody’s analyst Kwame Donaldson,Spreadsheet showing Florida unemployment 27 weeks or longer, 2012
- Rollins College Professor Bill Seyfried,Spreadsheet showing Florida unemployment 27 weeks, 2013
- Interview, David Cooper, economic analyst Economic Policy Institute, May 5, 2014
- Interview, Kevin Cate, Charlie Crist campaign spokesman, May 1, 2014
- Interview, Kwame Donaldson, Moody’s analyst, May 1, 2014
- Interview, Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness, May 1, 2014
- Interview with Bill Seyfried, Rollins College economics professor, May 2, 2014
- Interview with David Denslow, retired University of Florida economist, May 1, 2014