Osceola County's unemployment rate for April (not seasonally adjusted) was 10.8 percent, down from March's 11.3 percent and down 1 percent, from 11.8, in April 2010, according to the latest report from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. This represents 15,282 unemployed workers out of a labor force of 140,857.

Osceola is now ranked the 12th highest in the state for unemployment rates; Flagler County has the highest unemployment rate in Florida at 13.8 percent.

The jobless rate for the Orlando metropolitan area, which includes Lake, Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties, was 9.9 percent, down from 10.4 percent in March.

Orange County's jobless rate was 9.8 percent; Lake County's was 10.2 percent; and Seminole County was 9.5 percent. Polk County, Osceola County's other neighbor that is not in the metro-area, had a 10.8 percent jobless rate.

Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in April was 10.8 percent, down 0.3 percentage point from March's 11.1 percent. The new state unemployment rate represents 996,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,245,000. This is the first time the state’s unemployed residents have dipped below one million since October 2009.

The nationwide jobless rate for April was 8.7 percent, down from 9.2 percent in March and 9.5 percent in April 2010.