Table 16. Adult basic education enrollment by race and age 65 and over for FY 

 1978-79 (Florida Department of Education, Division of Community Colleges 

 1980b). 



The percentage of unemployed in the civilian labor force was 4.2% in 

 Northwest Florida and 3.8% for Florida (Table 17). The percentage of unem- 

 ployed remained considerably above the State level of unemployment through the 

 1970's and into the 1980's. In April 1982, the unemployment rate was 9.6% for 

 Northwest Florida and 7.1% for the State. Unemployment in 1982 was highest 

 (12.8%) in Gulf county and lowest (6.9%) in Santa Rosa County. The unemploy- 

 ment picture is not expected to improve in the immediate future. Two major 

 reasons for this prediction are limited employment opportunities (especially 

 opportunities for work in business and industry) and severe seasonal fluctua- 

 tions in employment in Northwest Florida. The number of people employed in the 

 counties of Northwest Florida in 1971-78 is given in Table 19. 



The number of women in the labor market increased in the 1970's and will 



probably continue to increase in the 1980' s. In recent years, many women have 



taken jobs to supplement the family income, to offset inflation, or support 

 themselves and their children. 



PUBLIC HEALTH 



Northwest Florida has less than 1% of the dentists, 4% of the medical 

 doctors, 5% of the phanmacists, 3% of the chiropractors, 7% of licensed prac- 

 tical nurses, 5% of registered nurses, 1% of the osteopaths, 1% of the podia- 

 trists, and 4% of the veterinarians in the State. Unemployment is especially 

 acute for some counties because over three-fourths of the licensed health 



20 



