Florida Trump ally sounds alarm after unemployment explodes in his home state

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during an event at The Villages Charter School at The Villages, Florida, U.S., May 1, 2026.

On Wednesday, the Department of Commerce released its jobs numbers for the month of January, and while the news isn’t good anywhere, it’s particularly bad in one state specifically: President Donald Trump’s adopted home state of Florida. While unemployment is up across the country versus the same time last year, Florida is the only state to see an increase from December to January, ticking up by another 0.2 percent to 4.5 percent.

The state technically added 23,800 jobs in January, but the cumulative effect over the previous year still has Florida down by 9,000 overall. Gains were made in a few areas, but the majority of prominent industry sectors saw losses, with the hardest hit being financial services, construction and hospitality. Overall, Florida’s unemployment rate is up by a total of 1 percent versus last year, and it has seen its jobless rate increase in five consecutive reports, growing from 3.7 percent in July to its current figure.

As noted, Florida was the only state to see an increase in unemployment for the month of January, but joblessness is up nationally compared to January 2025, climbing from 4 to 4.3 percent.

Florida’s jobless numbers were notably impacted by the closure of Spirit Airlines, which erased 4,800 positions from the state. While Spirit has struggled to avoid shuttering for years, the rising jet fuel costs driven by Trump’s war on Iran proved to be the final nail in its coffin, leaving the company with “no remaining way out” of bankruptcy.

At the same time, Florida’s tourism industry has been hammered by blowback from the tariffs Trump leveled against Canada, which resulted in a nearly 10 percent drop in Canadian visitors.

While Governor Rick DeSantis has attempted to downplay the state’s economic struggles, long-time Trump ally Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) was not as optimistic, posting of the latest unemployment report, “Unfortunately, this morning’s jobs numbers confirm what I have been sounding the alarm on for months, and what many Florida families are already feeling — Florida is falling behind on jobs. We’re losing tens of thousands of jobs every month and our unemployment is behind the national average AGAIN. Something needs to change.”

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