Florida unemployment hit 10.2% in May as Tampa Bay's leapt to 10.6%

With nearly 140,000 people out of work in May, the Tampa Bay area's unemployment rate leapt to 10.6 percent. That was nearly a half-point rise over April's jobless rate of 10.2 and matched a similar rise across Florida and the United States. Just a year earlier, in May 2008, unemployment stood at 5.9 percent. But the recession that began with the housing slump has been extending into formerly healthy industries like engineering, publishing and financial services. Florida's jobless totaled 10.2 percent last month, the highest rate since October 1975 when it was 11 percent. The national unemployment rate was 9.4 percent in May, up from April's 8.9 percent.

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