ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s April unemployment rate ticked up ever so slightly, a sign state economists say shows the job market is improving. 

The April 2021 unemployment rate is 4.8%, up a fraction from 4.7% in March, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. 

Adrienne Johnston, DEO’s chief of labor statistics, said more than 73,000 people returned to their former jobs or found new work, marking the highest employment point since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

More than 487,000 people remain unemployed out of a workforce of more than 10.2 million. 

The most promising news for Central Florida is that the Orlando-Sanford-Kissimmee region saw the highest number of jobs filled in the past month. 

Osceola County now has the third-highest unemployment rate in the state at 6.7%. It’s an improvement, considering Osceola County trended as the county with the highest jobless rate for the duration of the pandemic. 

It’s not unexpected due to the base of tourism and hospitality jobs in the area. 

Tourism and hospitality saw 8,100 jobs added in the past month, Johnston said 

The DEO is also placing optimism in the surge of online job ads, increasing from 195,000 online job ads in April 2020 to more than 461,000 online job ads posted as of Friday.

The online job ads, Johnston said, can be telling, although data is still unclear about where workers are returning within the job market itself. 

“We are seeing increases in jobs across the board, and job ads across the board, and I think that’s our best picture in what’s going on with the recovery and where employment is going in terms of industry,” Johnston said. “I don’t think we have evidence to suggest people are leaving hospitality industry and going into other industries, I’m not saying that’s not possible. We don’t have the data to specifically show that. We are seeing jobs are coming back in leisure and hospitality industry, just at a slower pace than other industries, so it could be on both sides of the equation. When you look at online job ads, you’re seeing a lot of growth across the board, and that includes hospitality industry.”

Business owners in Florida, like other states, say they are struggling to hire workers. Many are convinced it’s because of the rate of unemployment benefits, arguing people are “earning too much” to not work. 

The data is not yet mature enough to decipher what industries have a worker shortage or the reason why, Johnston said. 

“We don’t have clear definitive data to show specifically which industries are having trouble filling jobs,” Johnston said. “What we can do is look at those over several months to see who continues to show high job openings and see if those job openings are aging, and that’ll give us a better picture.” 

Last week, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Dane Eagle said the state is considering following other states in prematurely ending federal unemployment benefits, but it is not yet a final decision. As part of the American Recovery Plan, the federal government is providing additional $300 weekly unemployment benefits through September.

Beginning May 30, individuals will also be required to prove they are searching for work in order to remain eligible to receive benefits.