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Florida’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in August, to ten point seven percent. Job losses slowed, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, there is a glimmer of hope in the numbers.

24 thousand Florida jobs disappeared in August; that’s 37 hundred fewer than July.  While the picture is brighter for some, Timothy Dukes was laid off Friday morning and rode his bike to look for a new job.

“I think it’s a lack of work, a lack of work,” Dukes said.

150 new workers are being added to the state’s payroll to help the jobless. Trucker Dwayne Butler has been out of work ten months. He finally got an interview.

“I got called back for another interview and now it’s between me and two or three other people,” Butler said.

The state reports the number of employers viewing applicants on it’s website “employflorida”, is up.  There are other good signs as well.

“Consumer spending is up,” Rebecca Rust, Florida’s cheif labor economist said. “Retail sales were just released yesterday, are up.”

This stereo shop, which depends entirely on discretionary income, has seen an uptick in sales.

Systems here average three hundred to about 24 hundred dollars. With all of the install bays full Friday morning, owner Richard Menasco is thinking about hiring.

“Oddly enough, yeah,” Menasco said. “One or two or three people if it keeps improving.”

But for many, finding a job is still difficult. And as jobless benefits are running out, Florida’s foreclosure rate is rising. One of every 140 homes is now in foreclosure.

Florida ranks second only to Nevada in the number of foreclosures. That’s up from fourth place last month.