Florida unemployment rate drops to 4.8%
A busy start to spring break is the crowd that could help Central Florida with a job market that has been hurt by the pandemic.
"It’s a long-awaited trip," Farouk Syed said.
Syed brought his family to Orlando from Texas. They recently got the COVID-19 vaccine and said they needed a vacation.
"We had to go out as a family and do something together because it’s been a year -- more than a year," Syed said.
An aerial view from Chopper 2 captured the crowd at Universal Orlando which reached capacity around noon on Monday.
Those needing to get out is what many in Central Florida’s economy are banking on.
The state just released its latest jobs numbers for January showing the jobless rate dropped to 4.8 percent.
For the first time in months, Osceola County didn’t have the highest rate of unemployment in the state, though it was still second, at 7 percent, Orange County was in ninth.
However, with theme parks still not at full capacity and many hotel rooms empty, there is still a long way to go.
Central Florida lost more than 172,000 jobs from the same time last year, most in hospitality.
Experts have said for our market to fully recover tourists will need faith in the vaccine and in traveling again.