According to new data released by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to a record low of 3.0 percent in December 2019 and the labor force continued to increase, with 220,000 Floridians entering the workforce last year. Florida businesses created 198,200 private-sector jobs over the year and the state’s annual private-sector job growth rate of 2.5 percent continues to outpace the national job growth rate of 1.5 percent. Private-sector industries gaining the most jobs in 2019 were education and health services with 54,100 new jobs; leisure and hospitality with 47,900 new jobs; professional and business services with 35,500 new jobs; construction with 25,500 new jobs; and trade, transportation and utilities with 17,800 new jobs. There were 284,263 job openings in the state in December 2019.