64% of Florida job openings pay less than a living wage

While Florida elected officials tout improving monthly job creation figures, the majority of the state’s job openings pay less than a living wage, the Seattle-based non-profit Alliance For A Just Society reported in its 15th annual Job Gap Study.

The study released this week reported 13 job seekers for every projected living wage job opening in Florida, with 64 percent of all job openings paying less than a living wage. The report defined living wage for a single adult in Florida as $16.84 an hour based on data from a variety of census sources.

“It’s interesting to see Gov. (Rick) Scott talk a lot about job creation,” said Ben Henry, a co-author of the report that in previous years has focused primarily on states in the Northwest. “It was stunning to see the great number of low wage jobs in the Florida economy.”

Henry pointed out the national job creation wage gap is similar to, though not as severe as Florida’s, with seven job seekers for every projected job opening above an average U.S. living wage threshold of $15 an hour.

http://tbo.com/news/business/report-64-of-florida-job-openings-pay-less-than-living-wage-20131204/