While the governmental, economic development, and educational institutions of Florida concentrate on bringing high tech, high education, high wage jobs to Florida, retailers of all sizes across the state continue to generate jobs and wages. Local entrepreneurs daily create retail businesses, jobs, training, and wages with little or no help from the institutions that claim to care about Florida's future economic health. In fact, Florida's merchants constantly face a daunting barrage of regulations and disincentives from government and others that seem designed to cause failure rather than success. Retailing is Florida's forgotten job generator. It is virtually ignored as the incubator for new business, business expansion, job training, career training, etc.
Retailing is the second largest employment industry in Florida.
Nearly one quarter of all new jobs created between 1994 and 2005 will be in trade. Over 82 percent of the new jobs in trade will be in retail trade as this industry is spurred on by population and income growth. At number six is First Line Supervisor, sales. Therefore, four of the top six occupations gaining the most new jobs are retail related.