Employment by Industry

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Employment by Industry

Last Updated: January 23rd, 2026

Summary

• The seasonally-adjusted number of jobs in the Southwest Florida coastal counties totaled 550,700 jobs in December 2025, up 2,200 jobs (0.4 percent) from December 2024.
• Industries in the Southwest Florida coastal counties gaining the most new jobs from December 2024 to December 2025 include Education and Health Services (up 3,300 jobs), Local Government (up 1,800 jobs) and Financial Activities (up 400 jobs).
• Cape Coral-Fort Myers MSA reported 315,600 seasonally-adjusted jobs in December 2025, up 2,100 jobs (0.7 percent) from the same month last year.
• The total number of seasonally-adjusted jobs in the Naples-Marco Island MSA was 175,800 in December 2025, down 700 jobs (0.4 percent) from December 2024.
•  The Punta Gorda MSA had 59,000 seasonally-adjusted jobs in December 2025, up 700 jobs (1.2 percent) from December 2024.

About the Data

The chart above provides employment data collected from the Current Employment Statistics (CES), a monthly survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CES, sometimes referred to as the "establishment survey", interviews over 100,000 businesses and government agencies each month and provides estimates on employment, hours and earnings at the industry level. The total number of jobs is seasonally-adjusted by the Regional Economic Research Institute. All other industry level data is not seasonally-adjusted.

Unlike the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS), employment data in the CES represents the number of jobs rather than the number of workers.  Therefore, a person working for two different establishments would be counted twice (unlike the LAUS where they'll be counted once). Furthermore, employment in the CES represents the total number of workers on establishment payrolls that received pay for the pay period including the 12th of the month. This includes part-time, full-time and temporary employees, as well as employees on paid leave. All data is not seasonally-adjusted, and is updated on a monthly basis.