INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Unemployment figures in Indian River County continued to trend down for April as another 154 jobs were added to drop unemployment from 13.9 percent in March to 13.1 percent according to figures released Friday by the Agency for Workforce Innovation.Since February the county has added 388 jobs and unemployment has dropped from a high of 14.4 percent to 13.1. The unemployment rate represents 8,168 county residents out of work compared to 8,666 in February. The 13.9 percent unemployment for the county is higher than the state average of 12.0 percent. The state average dropped 0.3 percent for April, marking the first statewide drop in unemployment since February 2006.”We are certainly grateful for Florida’s first significantly improved unemployment rate in more than four years,” Gov. Charlie Crist said in a statement. “I am also pleased to see last month’s jump in consumer confidence and that home sales during the past three months are up 24 percent over the same period last year. I am committed to taking every action necessary to protect the Sunshine State, including making sure the world knows that Florida is open for business. Florida beaches have not experienced any impact from the oil spill in the Gulf at this time, and we are continuing to work to reduce its effect on our economy.”Last April in Indian River County unemployment was at 11.1 percent representing 6,914 county residents looking for work out of a workforce of 62,253.
