Florida grew in population because Gov. Ron DeSantis kept the state open during the pandemic. That also means more people in the workforce.
As of December 2022, Florida has more people in the workforce than New York.
The Bureau Labor of Statistics (BLS) released the number in its December 2022 Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report.
Florida has 9.669 million compared to New York’s 9.661 million. Florida also has 500,000 more people working there than before the pandemic.
DeSantis’s spokesman told FOX Business: “As Governor DeSantis said in his second inaugural speech, ‘It is often said that our federalist constitutional system — with fifty states able to pursue their own unique policies — represents a laboratory of democracy.’ Florida has exemplified the successful example of freedom, and our success is revealed in metrics like this.”
The data coincides with a BLS report last month that showed Florida’s economy is growing the fastest in the nation for the first time since 1957:
Florida’s population grew to 22,244,823 between 2021 and 2022, an increase of 1.9% in the span of one year. It’s an impressive feat considering that Florida is already the third-most populous state in the union. The state’s growth rate had to be significant to cinch the top spot out of all 50 states, something Florida hasn’t done since 1957.Census data shows that Florida’s population has increased every year since 1946, even during periods when national population growth slowed. Today, the state’s population is more than nine times larger than it was in 1946.
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