As Gov. Rick Scott points to the 1.6 million jobs added to Florida’s economy during his tenure, three dozen mostly rural counties in the state report having fewer jobs than they did in 2007, according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times.
The report focuses on Jackson County, about 60 miles west of Tallahassee, which has lost more than 1,600 jobs and where more people — 23 percent in all — live below the poverty line than before Scott took office in 2010.
The statewide average of people who are poor is 15 percent.
Median household income is $35,470, far lower than the state average of $48,900, U.S. Census data shows.
“We’re dying,” said Sheila Mader, managing editor of the weekly Jackson County Times.
But the problem reaches beyond Jackson County.
Nearly half of Florida’s 67 counties had fewer jobs than a decade ago, according to a 2017 report by the business-friendly Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Most are smaller counties in North and Central Florida and around Lake Okeechobee.
Seminole, Brevard and Volusia were among the job-loss counties in Central Florida.
Other include Alachua, Baker, Charlotte, Citrus, Columbia, DeSoto, Gadsden, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Holmes, Levy and Okaloosa.
Scott, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, declined to be interview for the story. But in a recent campaign stop he dismissed the worsening conditions in Florida’s rural areas as a “Democratic talking point.”
“If you look at what’s happened around the state, we have added 1.6 million jobs,” Scott said. “Every county has seen a significant reduction in their unemployment rate.”
