Jacksonville Florida has had a higher than average unemployment rate during the recession.  Not too much higher than average, 10.5% to be exact, but it hasn’t really found a light at the end of the tunnel just yet.  The biggest declining sector was construction, spurred by the bursting of the real estate bubble.  Some of the sectors that have done the best under the pressure of the recession are the education and health services sectors.  These two sectors have only grown by a meager 0.9%, but growing none the less.  Jacksonville does not seem like the kind of place that will snap back quickly from the recession, since many of its major employers are industry employment losers nationwide.

People in Jacksonville and Florida alike are having a very hard time finding permanent work.  The city of Jacksonville very diverse economically, which is hard to believe given its recent economic do wnfall.  Much of the economy was built upon the real estate and construction sectors.  These have taken some of the biggest hits nationwide by far.  The city boasts one of the east coasts busiest deep water ports and is certainly a transportation hub of the south.  The import-export and trade sectors are still going about as strong as they can in the wake of a global economic slowdown.  Jacksonville provides America with a key port, and much of the southeast’s economy is driven by trade and transportation.

The government sector is doing quite well given the fact that there are three naval stations within Jacksonville’s city limits.  These stations have likely helped to stabilize the city’s economy in the past couple of years but have failed to really keep the city afloat.  No pun intended.  These stations also help to bring the median age of Jacksonville down quite a bit.  It’s one of the “youngest” cities in Florida and even in the south altogether.  This vitality and youthful spirit should work in Jacksonville’s economic favor once an economic turnaround begins to appear.

Jacksonville is home to a large manufacturing base, which was quickly and severely impacted at the start of the recession.  The aviation industry also has a large presence in Jacksonville but has gotten off to a shaky start considering many aviation-based companies moved to the area to do business in the past 10 years, and many of these companies have now downsized considerably or pulled out of the Jacksonville entirely.  Embraer is one of the largest companies in the aviation industry that has decided to make Jacksonville the home of some of its production.  This company however has severely limited and even cut some of the jobs associated with its Jacksonville plant in recent months.

All in all, Jacksonville’s economy is relatively hit and miss.  There are some very bright spots balanced out by some darker ones.  But Florida in general has been hit extremely hard by the recession, and Jacksonville is doing relatively well in weathering the storm, far better at least than many other major cities in Florida.