- December 4, 2025
While Florida's unemployment rate has remained steady at 3.7%, Volusia and Flagler counties are seeing their rates spike.
Volusia County's unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in July 2025, based on recent data from Florida Commerce. This is 0.4% higher than it was one year ago, and according to Nexus 360, a local regional analytics and marketing firm, Volusia's July unemployment rate is the highest it's been since August 2021, when the rate was reported at 4.9%.
“Despite 1,441 more residents finding work last month, Volusia County’s unemployment rate continues to increase,” said Nexus 360 CEO Greg Blosé in a press release. “Year-over-year, Volusia County only has three more residents employed but has 996 more people standing in the unemployment line.”
Flagler County's unemployment rate in July rose to 5%, a 0.2% increase from June. It's also the highest in the county since August 2021, when it was reported at 5.1%.
According to Blosé, 292 Flagler County residents found employment last month.
“Flagler’s labor force continues to grow, along with the population, and hiring is not keeping up," he said in the press release. "Flagler County has the same number of residents employed as a year ago but has hundreds more people in the unemployment line.”
Ormond Beach's unemployment rate for July was 4.4%, up 0.3% from June, said Brian Rademacher, the city's economic development director.
Employment, however, is up: A total of 19,247 people were employed in July, up from 19,139 in June. It's also the same number of employed from July 2024, when the city's unemployment was 4%.
Rademacher said employment trends have been largely positive and stable at a local, regional and statewide level.
"I think that the unemployment rate of 4.4% reflects a cooling job market," Rademacher said. "We had several years of robust growth and since last year, inflation, the question mark surrounding tariffs really caused perhaps a pause in a lot of hiring."
Since January, 71 new jobs have been added to the Ormond Beach's economy.
At the state level, Florida's unemployment has held steady since April.
“The number of job openings is up from the same point in the year before,” said Jimmy Heckman, chief of workforce statistics and economic research at the Florida Department of Commerce to the News Service of Florida. “So, we are really seeing strong demand for labor, which will give opportunities to unemployed Floridians.”
The Department of Commerce reported 417,000 people qualified as unemployed in July, up 2,000 from last month.
Florida's unemployment rate in July 2024 was 3.4%. The Department of Commerce report also showed the number of jobless individuals increased by 35,000 from July 2024 to last month, and the labor force grew by 25,000.
Volusia County's labor force is 269,780 residents.
Flagler County's workforce is 56,024 residents.
Both counties have seen an increase in the number of employed residents — a figure that includes those working within their resident county or outside of it. Volusia's number of employed residents rose by 1,441 residents, going from 255,731 in June 2025 to 257,172 in July 2025. Flagler's number of employed residents increased by 292 people, going from 52,951 in June 2025 to 53,243 in July 2025.
Volusia and Flagler also saw an increase on the number of unemployed job-seeking citizens. Volusia went up by 395 from last month; Flagler rose by 99.
"As we prepare for the conclusion of the peak summer hiring season, there’s concern Flagler’s unemployment rate will continue to rise," said Blosé, who is also the former president of the Palm Coast-Flagler Chamber of Commerce. "Traditionally, Flagler County is the first to feel an economic slowdown and among the last to recover. Local businesses need to plan accordingly.”
The current job market in Ormond Beach is healthy, Rademacher said. Theunemployment rate, while a good metric, he said, is a lagging indicator of employment. Ormond Beach's workforce is estimated at 20,124 and that's remained consistent in recent years.
Looking at June's job posting data, Ormond Beach had about 729 listings in the city's leading industries: health care, retail trade, administrative and support services, finance and insurance, marketing, professional and scientific services and manufacturing. The latter two categories, Rademacher said, are growing.
"If we were to look at job postings in Volusia County or Flagler County, we might see that companies are, in fact, trying to hire," Rademacher said. "It's just a matter of how quickly they can hire, and if they have the skilled workforce that they need."
