FLORIDA, U.S. (352today.com) – Another week, another thought-provoking report from national personal finance resource WalletHub.
The site’s latest study ranks the states in terms of job-friendliness, and its methodology determined that Florida is currently the fourth-worst state in the Union when it comes to jobs—finding them, keeping them and stressing about them.
The study looked at two broad categories, “Job Market” and “Economic Environment,” with each taking into consideration a wealth of different criteria. In the category of “Job Market,” for instance, WalletHub analysts looked at such factors as job opportunities, employment growth, unemployment rate, job security and many others, while “Economic Environment” included elements like median annual income, average starting salary, commute time and state income tax, to name just a few.
These criteria were weighted by significance to come up with a total number out of 100, with 60 going to “Job Market” and 40 going to “Economic Environment.”
In their final analysis, the Sunshine State came in next-to-last in the rankings for “Job Market,” but 14th from the top in “Economic Environment,” for a combined score that put Florida fourth from the bottom of the barrell.
Perhaps interestingly, Florida didn’t score in the bottom OR top five in many of the most heavily weighted categories; it did, however, come in dead last in “Employment Growth,” 44th in “Average Commute Time,” and 42nd in “Job Security.”