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Florida’s unemployment rate jumped two tenths of a percent in August, but at the same time added jobs for the second month in a row. More than a million Floridians remain unemployed, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, there are some bright spots.

Ken Barber opened this clothing store, Xclusive, several months ago on the fringes of the Florida A and M University Campus. It means two more people are working right now, with the promise of more to come.

“The school year has  just started back, so hopefully we’re hoping before Christmas, we can add one more person,” Barber said.

Clothing is one of five industries in Florida that state economists say are adding jobs.

“We’ve only had two months where we’ve seen gains in clothing stores, so that’s a positive sign,” state labor economist Rebecca Rust said.

The reality is, as more jobs are created, more people are showing up at workforce centers like this one, trying to get back into the job market.

The latest numbers show one in four job seekers was actually discouraged and left the labor market. Mary Ash quit looking a year ago, but decided to try again.

“I stopped looking for one and got back in school,” Ash said. “Now that I’m back in school, I started looking for a job again.”

The state website shows just one job opening for every four people who are unemployed. Randy Nicklaus got 60 applicants for a single job he posted.

“We’re seeing people that are out of work, people who have been in high-level jobs, to people who have had all kinds of experiences,” Nicklaus said.

The statistics also show that when you count the people who took part time jobs just to keep the lights on,  one in five Floridians is either under employed or unemployed.

Counties with seasonal tourism or large government institutions such as prisons have the lowest unemployment rates, while those counties that rely on agriculture have the highest.