The numbers in a recent South Florida jobs report confirmed what all of the new building cranes going up have indicated - the real estate market is back in South Florida.  According to a recent Miami Herald article, the construction industry is helping to fuel Miami-Dade County’s job growth.  The construction industry added 2,400 new jobs in Miami-Dade in January, a 7.6% increase from the prior year.  Furthermore, the real estate market rebound seems to be spilling over into Broward County, with Broward adding 4,440 building-related jobs in January, up 14.1% from the prior year.

The job growth should continue as, according to the Herald article, there are currently 175 condo projects with 24,000 units in the process of being built in Miami-Dade and Broward.  For example, Fortune International’s Jade Signature in Sunny Isles Beach has hired 120 construction workers in the past 4 months, with the expectation that the total number of workers will exceed 500.

The jobs report also offered good news for those looking for some diversification in the Miami-Dade economy, with 30,500 new jobs created in January year-over-year, and the addition of jobs in nearly every sector.  This was the second highest number of jobs created in Florida, after the 36,400 jobs added in Orlando.  Overall, Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since June 2008.