Workforce

An ample supply of skilled workers is available in Marion County, Florida. The entire workforce, including adjoining counties, totals almost 660,000.

Marion County's unemployment rate began with 14.2% in January 2011, but saw a decrease to 11.6% by December 2011. With a higher number of available workers, new employers have a motivated pool of candidates to choose from. The Marion County Business Solutions Partnership, consisting of the EDC, the College of Central Florida and Workforce Connection - Citrus • Levy • Marion maintains a unique collaboration to meet employers' needs for workforce training and placement.

One of the key elements in the Ocala/Marion County EDC’s Strategic Plan is Workforce Initiatives. The EDC looks for creative ways to utilize business and community partners to ensure a skilled and reliable workforce is available for employers. One innovative project has been the Marion Technical Institute: Where Education Meets Experience.

For more workforce data, feel free to visit the EDC's State Partner for workforce initiatives, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

December 2011 County Civilian Labor Workforce 131,250
December 2011 County Unemployment Rate 11.6%
December 2011 Florida Unemployment Rate 9.7%
December 2011 Labor Force of Adjoining Counties 659,633

Florida is a "Right To Work" state.

For your convenience, the workforce data is available in a downloadable pdf format. Click here to view Workforce.

If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, you can download a free Adobe PDF reader here.

Custom Window Systems, Inc.

2011 Industrial Occupational Wage Information

Selected Occupational Title	Entry	Median	Experienced
Billing, Posting Clerks & Machine Operators	$10.59	$13.70	$15.49
Computer Support Specialists	$13.77	$17.67	$20.05
Customer Service Representatives	$10.02	$13.53	$15.24
Cutting, Punching, & Press Machine Setters, Operators	$11.44	$12.79	$14.91
Extruding & Drawing Machine Setters, Operators	$10.76	$12.90	$15.32
First Line Supervisors/Managers of Production	$16.28	$22.81	$28.79
Food Preparation Workers	$8.21	$8.69	$9.22
Heating, A/C, & Refrigeration Mechanics/ Installers	$13.54	$15.84	$19.82
Industrial Machinery Mechanics	$13.30	$15.84	$17.97
Industrial Production Managers	$28.01	$45.31	$54.07
Laborers & Freight, Stock & Material Movers	$9.05	$11.64	$13.61
Machinists	$10.98	$16.94	$20.08
Metal Workers & Plastic Workers, All Other	$11.26	$13.13	$17.03
Molding, Coremaking, Casting Machine Setters	$9.62	$15.38	$16.74
Office Clerks, General	$8.82	$11.31	$13.38
Sales Managers	$34.26	$56.82	$72.69
Sheet Metal Workers	$11.58	$15.46	$17.08
Truck Drivers, Heavy & Tractor-Trailer	$12.65	$15.58	$18.98
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, & Brazers	$12.07	$16.77	$18.40

Sources: Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, Labor Market Statistics

2011 Marion County Worker Classification – Ocala MSA

Employment Population by Class of Worker
For-Profit Private Workers	91,841
Non-Profit Private Workers	6,743
Local Government Workers	13,392*
State Government Workers	2,582*
Federal Government Workers	916*
Self-employed Workers	16,502
Unpaid Family Workers	413
Employment Population by Occupation
Architect/Engineer	1,572
Arts/Entertainment/Sports	1,366
Building Grounds Maintenance	5,962
Business and Financial Operations	3,847
Community/Social Services	1,357
Computer/Mathematical	845
Construction, Extraction	8,122
Education/Training/Library	6,518
Farming, Fishery and Forestry	1,665
Food Preparation/Serving	7,115
Health Practitioner/Tech	8,419
Healthcare Support	3,631
Legal	788
Life/Phys/Social Science	335
Maintenance Repair	5,312
Management	10,352
Office/Administrative Support	18,877
Personal Care/Service	4,732
Production	7,077
Protective Services	3,943
Sales/Related	16,932
Transportation/Moving	8,086
Employment Population by Occupation Classification
Blue Collar	28,597
White Collar	71,208
Service and Farm	27,048

Sources:The Nielsen Company 2011 *Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation

2010 Marion County Average Earnings Per Worker by Industry

Accommodation and Food Services	$19,915
Administrative and Waste Services	$25,383
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting	$25,784
Construction	$41,072
Educational Services	$44,041
Finance and Insurance	$44,508
Health Care and Social Assistance	$43,683
Information	$37,430
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation	$24,755
Management of Companies and Enterprises	$53,177
Manufacturing	$39,215
Professional and Technical Services	$49,687
Public Administration*	$38,725
Real Estate, Rental and Leasing	$39,109
Retail Trade	$27,544
Transportation and Warehousing	$38,496
Wholesale Trade	$44,973
Other Services	$30,352
Total Government	$33,251
Federal Government	$43,916
State Government	$35,988
Local Government	$31,992
County-wide Average All Industries	$36,900

Sources: Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, Labor Market Statistics
*Includes Public Administration provided by Government

Unemployment Rate – Ocala MSA

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Jan	4.4	4.0	4.6	6.4	5.8	5.1	4.3	3.3	4.1	6.0	11.6	15.4	14.2
Feb	4.2	3.9	4.6	6.2	5.5	4.8	4.2	3.3	3.9	6.0	12.3	15.5	13.2
Mar	3.8	3.8	4.5	5.9	5.3	4.9	3.9	3.2	3.8	6.2	12.2	15.0	12.5
Apr	4.0	3.6	4.6	5.9	5.2	4.5	3.7	3.1	3.7	6.1	11.8	13.9	12.2
May	3.7	3.9	4.4	5.7	5.4	4.6	3.7	3.2	3.9	6.9	12.1	13.6	12.0
Jun	3.9	4.4	.5.0	6.3	6.1	5.1	4.1	3.6	4.6	7.6	12.6	13.9	12.6
Jul	3.8	4.3	4.8	6.0	5.7	4.8	4.0	3.8	5.0	8.1	12.6	14.1	12.8
Aug	3.7	4.4	5.0	6.1	5.6	4.7	3.8	3.7	5.0	8.7	13.0	14.5	12.7
Sep	3.6	4.2	4.5	5.7	5.4	4.4	3.7	3.6	5.0	8.6	13.4	14.3	12.4
Oct	3.5	4.0	5.8	5.4	4.9	4.2	3.4	3.3	4.9	8.8	13.4	13.8	11.8
Nov	3.7	4.0	5.9	5.6	5.0	4.2	3.5	3.6	5.1	9.6	13.9	14.6	11.8
Dec	3.4	3.8	5.8	5.4	4.6	4.0	3.0	3.5	5.5	10.1	14.0	14.0	11.6
Annual Average	3.8	4.0	5.0	5.9	5.4	4.6	3.8	3.4	4.5	7.7	12.75	14.3	12.5