Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Jacksonville area added 18,000 new private-sector jobs in the last year. Jacksonville’s unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in December, down 1.1 percentage points from one year ago. Statewide, Florida businesses created nearly 30,000 new jobs in December bringing the total number of new private-sector jobs created in Florida to 1,497,100 since December 2010. Governor Scott also announced today that the PGA TOUR has selected Ponte Vedra Beach as the location for its new global headquarters, which will create 300 new jobs for families in St. Johns County. The PGA TOUR currently employs 800 Floridians. The new 187,000 square-foot headquarters is expected to be completed in 2020 and will house all PGA TOUR employees who currently occupy 17 buildings throughout the area.
 
Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce the PGA TOUR has chosen Ponte Vedra Beach for their new global headquarters and the creation of 300 new jobs. While this global company could have invested in any other state, they ultimately decided that Florida was the best location to grow their business and create new opportunities for our families. Our work to cut taxes and reduce burdensome regulations is helping Florida compete for these important jobs wins. I look forward to seeing the PGA TOUR’s continued success in Florida – the golf capital of the world.”
Commissioner of the PGA TOUR Jay Monahan said, “We are excited for the opportunity to continue to grow here in St. John’s County and believe the PGA TOUR’s new home will become a sense of pride for the entire area and state of Florida while allowing us to become more efficient in the way we communicate, collaborate and operate as an organization. Although we have a growing international presence with offices and tournaments around the world, the PGA TOUR and our employees are very proud to be locally based and active members of the First Coast and Ponte Vedra Beach community.”
 
Peter Antonacci, President and CEO of Enterprise Florida said, “Our board is enthusiastic about the PGA TOUR expanding their global headquarters in Ponte Vedra. This expansion is a win for Northeast Florida families and wouldn’t be possible without Governor Scott’s hard work to make Florida the best place to do business and raise a family.”
 
The industries with the highest growth over the year in Jacksonville were trade, transportation and utilities with 8,400 new jobs and professional and business services with 4,200 new jobs. The Jacksonville area once again rounded out the top five metro areas in job demand, with 19,319 openings, and had the fourth-highest number of openings for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations with 5,621 online openings.
 
As of December, Florida’s unemployment rate is at 3.7 percent, a drop of 7.0 percentage points since December 2010, faster than the national decline of 5.2 percentage points. In the last year, 185,000 people entered Florida’s labor force, a growth of 1.9 percent, which is nearly four times the national labor force growth rate of only 0.5 percent.
 
In December, 18,828 Floridians were placed in jobs by CareerSource Northeast Florida and the state’s other 23 local workforce boards.
 
To view the December 2017 employment data, visit www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/labor-market-information-press-releases/monthly-press-releases.

The PGA TOUR is the leading global platform in professional golf, showcasing the highest expression of excellence, both on and off the course. The PGA TOUR’s mission is to entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, generate significant charitable and economic impact in the communities in which it plays, grow and protect the game of golf and provide financial opportunities for TOUR players. The PGA TOUR co-sanctions more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Web.com Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR-China. Members on the PGA TOUR represent the world’s best players, hailing from 25 countries (84 members are from outside the United States). Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to more than 1 billion households in 226 countries and territories in 23 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations in order to maximize charitable giving. In 2017, tournaments across all Tours generated a record of more than $180 million for local and national charitable organizations, bringing the all-time total to $2.65 billion.
 
Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) is a partnership between Florida’s businesses and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for Florida. EFI facilitates job growth through recruitment and retention, international trade and exporting, promotion of sporting events, and capital funding programs to assist small and minority businesses. EFI launched “Florida – The Future is Here” to promote the state as the nation’s premier business destination.
 
St. Johns County Office of Economic Development is the designated County’s official economic development organization with Enterprise Florida for overall economic development efforts in St. Johns County. The program provides assistance to businesses interested in locating and expanding into the County including site selection, incentive negotiation and other due-diligence requests. The County manages the local economic development incentive program and provides assistance with related regional, state and federal programs.