Juan Duboa, left, inserts a rebar handle into the last bit of unused concrete for easy lifting at a Creighton Construction site in Fort Myers.(Photo: SARAH COWARD/THE NEWS-PRESS)



Southwest Florida's summer unemployment rates are the lowest in nearly six years, but the local labor market is still a long way from being truly recovered.


As the nation celebrates Labor Day, a larger percentage of workers here have jobs this summer than any since the recession. But, Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties alone have lost a net 22,300 jobs compared to July 2006, near the recent economic peak, to July 2014, the most recent data available.


"So many jobs have been lost, you have to look beyond the unemployment rate to see what is going on," said Gary Jackson, director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at FGCU. "We still have a fairly large portion of the unemployed who have been looking for work for a long time, and they may have become discouraged workers and stopped looking."


If someone stops looking for work, they are no longer counted as unemployed.




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Seasonal job cuts raise unemployment rates



And we haven't left mass layoffs too far in the rearview mirror, either:


• In May 2013, aerospace manufacturer Pall Corp. shuttered its Fort Myers operation after 36 years, eliminating about 250 local jobs.


• In April, just fewer than 200 workers lost their jobs when the former Naples headquarters of Health Management Associates Inc., closed after Nashville-based Community Health Systems bought the company.


• In May, Source Interlink closed its magazine distribution business in Bonita Springs, eliminating 165 corporate jobs from Bonita Springs.


Despite those manufacturing and corporate job losses, the construction industry has suffered the greatest rate of job decline since the recession. That's not too surprising considering it was the collapse of the housing bubble and the resulting financial crisis that sent the nation into an economic downturn in the first place.


Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties had 35,600 fewer construction jobs in July than in July 2006, a decline of more than 52 percent, according to data from Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity. The state does not publish job sector data for Glades and Hendry counties.


"Although construction is coming back, it is nowhere near where it was in the boom time," Jackson said. "So many people have left that industry or have left the area to work elsewhere that there is going to be a lag in getting the right people back to work in the jobs we need."


That lag is such a problem that it is hampering the recovery, said Dan Creighton, owner of Creighton Construction. The company has been building several retail projects including a series of shops and restaurants near U.S. 41 and College Parkway.



Eric Armas smoothes the top of a solid concrete buffer guard Thursday, August 28 at a Creighton Construction site in Fort Myers.(Photo: SARAH COWARD/THE NEWS-PRESS)



"We had a specialty job for some plaster and all the goodies, and we had to bring a guy in from Miami to find the skills we needed," Creighton said. "It has been tough, and the labor situation is going to get tighter and tighter. The only thing that will level it out is more people moving to this market because of the demand for jobs."


Creighton said plumbers, electricians and a variety of skilled trades are in especially short supply.


It likely will take an influx of workers to help fill the need for skilled construction workers because there isn't a ready supply locally, said Jim Wall, spokesman for CareerSource Southwest Florida.


"Construction is going to come back, but some say those that left the area or went on to careers in other industries are not going to come back, but we will see as the demand starts to push wages up," Wall said.


Hiring has been strong in the hospitality and retail sectors, as restaurants and stores — including regional and national chains like Culver's, Wawa convenience stores and Chipotle Mexican Grill — open new locations.


The leisure and hospitality sector had 9,000 more jobs in July than the same month in 2008, a gain of more than 17 percent.


"Southwest Florida is very hospitality and service oriented," Wall said. "We are seeing record numbers of visitors, and those visitors create jobs."


Wall said he expects resorts and restaurants will begin hiring as early as this month.


"They are anticipating a good winter season in the coming year, and they are going to start recruiting earlier because the competition for workers is going to be strong," Wall said.


While many entry level hospitality and retail jobs tend to be lower paying than the corporate jobs lost because of the HMA and Source Interlink closings, for example, they employ far more people, Wall said.


"Yes, we need to continue to work to diversify our economy, but we are going to be a service-based economy for a long time and we ought to work to make sure we are providing the kinds of service workers these employers need," Wall said.


Gary McKinley, owner of Craters & Freighters of Southwest Florida, said manufacturing has suffered nationally through the recession and Southwest Florida is no exception. The sector had 3,300 fewer jobs in July than in July 2006, a decline of 27 percent.


Craters & Freighters manufactures custom shipping containers. McKinley said the company is growing but, like construction, can't find the people it needs locally.


"We had to look outside the state to find someone experienced in freight," he said. "We are buying equipment that is more technical and the supply of those workers is small."


As the economy continues to improve, both locally and nationally, McKinley said local manufacturing will grow. McKinley is also president of the Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association.


"We need to get to today's students and let them know there is manufacturing here and opportunities here," he said.


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