700,000 jobs promise plods along, despite numbers debate

Careering into the August primary, Gov. Rick Scott's promise to create more than 700,000 jobs in seven years has either suffered a hiccup or continues unabated, depending on your point of view.

July jobs numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show Florida lost 1,600 jobs last month -- or gained 2,100, if you ask Scott. He has consistently ignored losses in government employment and touted private sector growth. The state has lost 25,400 government jobs during Scott's term, U.S. Labor Department economist Timothy Ewing told PolitiFact Florida.

His office on Aug. 15, 2014, crowed about the state's private businesses adding 620,300 jobs since December 2010. He also noted the unemployment rate, which is not vital to this particular promise, was down to 6.2 percent.

One major snag in the upward climb was from April to May, when the state lost 17,200 jobs, the largest statewide drop in the United States that month, and the unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 percent. Economists speculated the change possibly reflected a late Easter and a cold winter, which brought tourists that inflated April leisure and hospitality payrolls. The drop was bookended with stronger than usual growth in April and June.

Numbers people who have read our previous coverage should note that economists revise these numbers each year based on Census data pooled from payroll taxes, so the totals typically change as the picture becomes clearer.

Experts say it's hard to tell how much influence a governor has on the job creation process, and it may take years to find out if policies have had any effect on job totals at all.

Scott is still a long way away from his stated target, but job creation does continue to climb. We continue to rate this promise In The Works.

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