Unemployment in South Florida jumped in June to higher than state and national unemployment levels, signaling that the U.S. economic downturn and mounting job layoffs have hit home.

More than one-third of all of Florida’s unemployed are in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, with 132,884 residents in the tri-county area out of work last month, according to numbers released Thursday by the state.

Some of the layoffs are seasonal with jobs tied to tourism at hotels, restaurants and retailers.

But a growing portion of June’s jobless were the result of South Florida employers such as Motorola, Nortel Networks, Lucent Technologies, First Union, ESA Services and Allstate Insurance letting go workers in sizeable numbers.

“Companies are pulling in their horns,” said Chris Wood, president of the Broward Alliance, the county’s economic development arm.

“What’s happening across corporate America has caught up with us,” said Gary Hines, senior vice president for the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County.

Unemployment in Palm Beach County shot up a full percentage point in June to 5.4 percent, meaning about 5,000 lost their jobs last month with 28,908 residents out of work. In May, the unemployment level was 4.4 percent; a year ago, it was 4.8 percent.

Unemployment in Broward County increased to 4.3 percent from 4.0 percent in May, with 35,053 unemployed or 2,757 more than in May. In June a year ago, the unemployment rate was 4 percent.

Miami-Dade saw its unemployment rise to 6.3 percent from 5.8 percent in May. The county had 68,923 residents without jobs, or 6,646 more than in May. In June 2000, the jobless rate was 5.6 percent.

The U.S. unemployment rate in June was 4.5 percent, up from 4.4 in May. Florida’s unemployment rate was 4 percent, up from May’s rate of 3.9 percent. A year ago, Florida’s jobless rate was 3.6 percent.

Throughout South Florida, a chilling factor is felt among employers and workers.

“It started slowing down in June. Most of the companies we speak with are in a hold pattern right now, except for those continuing to have major layoffs,” said Joan Greenberg, area manager for staffing and employment giant Manpower Corp. in Plantation.

Her colleague and Palm Beach County manager for Manpower, Linda Ogle, said: “Caution. That’s what I’m hearing from businesses. Even companies who need people are not hiring because they’re afraid of an unsteady economy.” The slowdown is costing jobs, but nowhere is that clearer than on the unemployment line.

“I really need a job,” said Rontrell Jones, 24, a medical assistant in Fort Lauderdale. “So far, I’ve left applications, had some interviews and heard lots of ‘we’ll get back to you.'”

For the 11th consecutive month, initial claims for unemployment compensation were up in Florida, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. The agency released those numbers along with unemployment figures.

An unemployed Bipin Patel expressed frustration that has been building as he left the Workforce Development Center in Delray Beach, where the jobless go to sign up for unemployment compensation and get help with job hunting.

“You see all these jobs on the Internet. You contact the companies and find out they are filled. They simply don’t update their Web sites,” said Patel, a computer engineer at Motorola for 14 years who got downsized in the recent restructuring. “Up north, I was a chemist, but I haven’t found any opportunities in that area, either,” the Delray Beach resident said. “It’s a tough job market — it’s really a recession.”

Nationally, the number of U.S. workers receiving jobless benefits climbed to 3.11 million in the first full week of July, the most since October 1992. Initial claims for unemployment insurance, however, dipped by 35,000 last week to 414,000, as automakers recalled workers from seasonal shutdowns.

The U.S. index of leading economic indicators rose for a third straight month in June, suggesting growth may accelerate by year’s end. A gain in consumer confidence helped push the Conference Board’s gauge up 0.3 percent after a 0.4 percent rise in May. The New York research group nonetheless said that the outlook “remains fragile.”

That assessment follows Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s report to Congress that the economy has improved while remaining at risk of weakness.

The Conference Board’s index reinforces the view “that the news is no longer unrelentingly negative,” said David Orr, chief economist at First Union Corp. “An ‘all clear’ for the economy isn’t guaranteed, but it adds to the tentative evidence of a recovery.”

Business Writer Glenn Singer contributed to this report, which was supplemented with information from Bloomberg News.

Joan Fleischer Tamen can be reached at or 305-810-5030.