NorthWest Florida Republican

While the summer has been baking down on the white sandy beaches here in the Panhandle of Florida, the BP oil spill has slowly taken its toll on local employment rates. With fewer tourists, less hiring is being done and fewer businesses are adding lost employees.

This has caused a slight up-tick in the unemployment since May.

The Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation on Friday released the state’s unemployment figures for June. Okaloosa County’s unemployment rate increased from 7.4 percent in May to 7.6 percent last month. Santa Rosa County saw a larger increase, going from 9.3 percent in May to 9.8 percent in June. – The Destin Log

However, we should still be thankful. The panhandle still enjoys a lower unemployment rate than the National or State averages.

Much of the latest cause for the upswing in unemployment is heaped upon BP. Though I have to wonder if there is more at play here than just BP. Home sales continue to fall reducing the area income. And Foreclosures are still happening at a high rate. Couple this with the current Obama administration and Democrats anti business policies and laws and you will have a rise in the employment rate.

While BP probably should share a significant burden of the unemployment increases since May, there are other factors at work that won’t go away as quickly as the BP oil spill. Laws that Congressman Allen Boyd has helped passed have removed jobs from the area as well.