CareerSource Research Coast is looking for people who can think inside the box. To fill and ship boxes fast.
“We have the Lincoln Park Job Fair,” said Tonya Woodworth, communications manager, of the event that will be held Sept. 6 at the Blackburn Educational Building at Indian River State College, 3002 Avenue D, Fort Pierce, from 9 a.m. to noon. (Registration is not required.)
On hand will be familiar names in warehousing and shipping, but also manufacturing. “We have Amazon, Coca-Cola, Southern Eagle Distributors, Pursuit (Boats) and Indian River Select Brand,” Woodworth said.
Along with some Port St. Lucie names. “Expert Shutter Services,” continued Woodworth. “Silver-Line Plastics. The other will be Ross Mixing. Ross is located in Port St. Lucie.”
It comes on the heels of the state July jobs report. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity released the report in the second half of August.
St. Lucie County held steady from June to July with a 4.3 percent not-seasonally-adjusted, non-agricultural unemployment rate. That was a repeat of the year before. In June and July last year, the not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate held steady the two months at 4.8 percent.
“We’re in the traditional summer pattern,” Woodworth said.
Taken together, St. Lucie and Martin counties form the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area. Last July about 148,200 of the area’s residents had employment. This July about 153,400 did, an increase of about 5,200. The 3.5 percent increase beat the state’s employment increase of 2.9 percent. However, the area’s population is estimated to have increased about 2.5 percent, whereas the state about 1.5 percent.
Counted from July 2018 to July 2019, the statistical area had the state’s second fastest annual growth rate in the mining, logging and construction sector, 11.3 percent, with about 1,300 jobs. It also had the fastest annual growth rate from July to July for the state in the financial activities sector, 7.4 percent, with about 400 jobs.
Professional and business services picked up about 1,000 jobs from July to July in the statistical area. Education and health services, too, picked up about 1,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality 900.
Manufacturing added about 300 jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities along with other services and government each added about 100 jobs. The information industry was unchanged in a July to July measurement.
Earlier this year Amazon surprised St. Lucie with an announcement it will be opening a distribution center later this year at 7440 Commercial Circle in Fort Pierce, the 60,000-square-foot former Bee Electronics building. Woodworth said Amazon is planning on hiring about 200.