- March 12, 2025
With a 2.6% unemployment rate drop from September 2011 to September 2012, Palm Coast was tied with one other metropolitan area for the largest decrease in the last 12 months, according to a report released last week by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
“The city has a major commitment to economic development and to growing the economy one job at a time,” City Manager Jim Landon said. “We’re pleased to see our unemployment numbers moving in the right direction, though we know we still have work to do.”
In September, total employment in Palm Coast surpassed 30,000 for the first time in the city’s history, which reflects an increase of jobs since a low point of 27,716 in October 2009. Since, more than 2,500 jobs have been created in Palm Coast. (Palm Coast’s employment was at 30,233 as of the Oct. 31 release.) Palm Coast’s unemployment rate in September 2011 stood at 14.5%.
Many of the jobs brought to the area include retails positions as places such as Target, EPIC Theatres and Panera Bread. Later this year, restaurants Carrabba’s and Zaxby’s are scheduled to open, which could lower the rate even further.
According to Beau Falgout, senior economic development planner for the city, other sectors such as medical and construction likely played a role in the drop.
Falgout said residents can help grow the local economy and create jobs by supporting small, local businesses.
The city will host two more Small Business Saturday events this year — Nov. 24 and Dec. 2. On those days, officials encourage Flagler County residents to spend money at local retailers as opposed to leaving the county.
“If everyone in our community spent $25 at a small business, it would generate $1 million in economic impact locally,” Falgout said.
Although Palm Coast remains among the top metropolitan areas in unemployment, the drop puts the city below the 12% threshold for the first time since 2009.
For years, the city and the county ranked the highest in the state in unemployment.
According to numbers provided by the Center for Business Excellence, the December 2005 unemployment rate was at 3.5%. By December 2007, that number jumped to 7.4%.
In September 2010, there were 29,266 people employed in the city.
“I’m into trends, and if you look at trends, it’s going in the right direction,” Falgout said. “The unemployment rate works that if your population is growing, more people are in the workforce. The good news is the business community ... has been adding jobs.”
