Southwest Florida unemployment reached 5.0 percent in June, above the state rate, and construction lost 1,200 jobs over the year

Money & World

The Editorial Team · July 28, 2026

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What it changes

This is the first labor reading in a while that says something a Southwest Florida household can feel. Unemployment here is now running above the Florida rate rather than below it, and the increase is not small: 4.2 percent to 5.0 percent in twelve months, with both of our counties moving up in June alone. Underneath that, the regional payroll count barely moved. What changed is which jobs exist. The industries that pay a Southwest Florida household through a mortgage are the ones shrinking. Construction is down 1,200 jobs across the three metro areas, which in a region whose economy is built on building is the number to watch, and it sits alongside the fuel cost increase this desk reported yesterday, when Naples diesel was running 47 percent above last July. Government is down another 1,100, almost all of it in Lee County, where the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro shed 1,100 government jobs, or 3.7 percent, in a single year. The growth is concentrated in Education and Health Services, up 3,300, which is real employment but a different labor market with different hours, different credentials and different pay. The wage table in the same release is the other half of the picture: the 2025 average annual wage was $70,215 in Collier and $63,705 in Lee, against $72,732 statewide, so both counties earn below the Florida average while housing here costs well above it. None of this is a forecast. It is the state's own count, it is not seasonally adjusted, and the department marks every figure subject to revision.

Unemployment across Southwest Florida rose to 5.0 percent in June, according to the Florida Department of Commerce, which puts the region above the state for the month. Florida was 4.6 percent. The national rate was 4.4 percent.

The figure covers the CareerSource Southwest Florida region, which is Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Monroe counties. A year earlier the same region was at 4.2 percent. The department counted 35,606 unemployed residents against a labor force of 711,580 that grew by 1,296 people, or 0.2 percent, over the year.

Both of the counties this desk covers moved up. Collier County was 4.8 percent in June, against 4.5 percent in May and 4.0 percent in June 2025. Lee County was 5.1 percent, against 4.9 percent in May and 4.3 percent in June 2025. Within the region only Monroe County, at 3.2 percent, was below the state rate. Charlotte County was highest at 5.8 percent.

The payroll side of the release is flatter than the unemployment side and more revealing. Across the region's three metropolitan areas, nonagricultural employment was 544,600 in June, an increase of 1,200 jobs or 0.2 percent over the year. Seven industries lost jobs and three gained them.

Mining, Logging and Construction lost the most, 1,200 jobs. Government lost 1,100. Other Services lost 500, and Financial Activities and Trade, Transportation and Utilities each lost 400. On the other side, Education and Health Services added 3,300 jobs, Professional and Business Services added 1,200, and Leisure and Hospitality added 700.

The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro, which is Lee County, held total employment at 311,900, a gain of 1,200 jobs or 0.4 percent. Construction there fell to 41,100 jobs from 41,800, a decline of 1.7 percent, and government fell to 28,600 from 29,700, a decline of 3.7 percent. Education and Health Services in the metro added 1,900 jobs and grew 3.6 percent, faster than the same industry statewide.

The Naples-Marco Island metro, which is Collier County, employed 174,200 people in June, up 400 jobs or 0.2 percent. Construction fell to 20,400 from 20,700. Trade, Transportation and Utilities lost 500 jobs, with retail trade accounting for 400 of that. Education and Health Services added 900 jobs, Leisure and Hospitality added 500, and government added 100.

The release also carries wage and population tables. The 2025 average annual wage was $70,215 in Collier County and $63,705 in Lee County, against $72,732 for Florida. Collier's population reached 416,233 in 2024 and Lee County's reached 860,959, increases of 1.5 percent and 2.0 percent over 2023.

The department publishes these figures without seasonal adjustment and notes on every page that all data are subject to revision. The next release, covering July, is expected around August 21.

Southwest Florida unemployment reached 5.0 percent in June, above the state rate, and construction lost 1,200 jobs over the year

Naples closed 881 home sales in June, up 16.5 percent, while inventory fell 23.4 percent and the year-to-date median price slipped to $610,000

State economists put Marco Island's first-year loss under Amendment 3 at $1,074,700, and the council has called off the police outsourcing study it started over that number

Three Cape Coral areas are still under precautionary boil water notices, and the city's own map has not rescinded any of them