Seasonal hiring reduced Lee County’s unemployment rate in March, but it’s unknown whether that number will continue to drop or rise again as summer hits and the county’s job seekers are mired in the doldrums of Lee’s slowest time for tourists. The local leisure and hospitality industry added 800 jobs between February and March, and was the leading industry for job growth in Lee. Education and health services also added 300 jobs as an industry in the same time frame, according Southwest Florida Works spokeswoman Barbara Hartman. Hartman said the job outlook is improving in Lee, but it will take some time before returning to “normal” unemployment levels. Just as Lee County hit a record high of 14.2 percent, it would likely never again hit the historic low of 2.1 percent during the boom years. “If we could get back to 5 or 6 percent (unemployment), that would be the target,” Hartman said. “Five percent is fully employed, but it’s going to take us a while.” An estimated 11.2 percent of Lee County’s workforce was out of work in March, down from 11.7 in February, and 12.5 percent in March 2010. Collier, Charlotte, Glades and Hendry counties all posted decreased unemployment rates, but Hendry still had the third highest unemployment rate in Florida at 13.1 percent. The state also posted a decreased unemployment rate; at 11.1 percent, Florida is at its lowest unemployment rate since November 2009 when the rate was the same. Representing 1,030,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,251,000, 11.1 percent is also the first time Florida has posted a year-over-year decrease since 2006. Lee County actually lost another 3,000 jobs year-over-year in March, despite the decreased unemployment rate, but Hartman feels the county is showing signs of real recovery. A job fair hosted by Edison State College and Southwest Florida Works saw upwards of 25 employers taking part, according to Hartman, and is a positive indicator of where the county is headed. Hartman said Lee Memorial Health System, Hope Hospice, Hyatt Regency and Edison State College were some of the companies that took part. “There’s been increased hiring activity and a slow down in layoffs,” Hartman said. “We will see lower unemployment in the future. It’s a gradual process, the economy is turning around.”