Gov. Rick Scott says he has doubled down on his campaign promise to create 700,000 jobs in Florida in seven years. Scott says more than 1.4 million jobs have been created in the public sector since he took office in January of 2011.

Scott made the announcement Friday morning at a Tampa auto dealership where he released the July unemployment rate, which stands at 4.1 percent. That’s the same level as it was the month before.

“Our goal was to create 700,000 jobs in seven years and while we were proud to reach that ambitious goal three years early, we did not slow down,” Scott said in a news release sent out by his office. “I am proud to announce today that after cutting taxes more than 75 times, Florida businesses have created more than 1.4 million new jobs, officially doubling our promise to create 700,000 jobs in seven years.”

Florida’s annual job growth rate stood at 2.9 percent last month. That’s the 64th month in a row the state’s job growth rate has exceeded the national rate, which stands at 1.7 percent.

Since December of 2010, the state’s unemployment rate has dropped 6.6 percentage points while the national rate declined by 5 percent.

“Florida’s unemployment rate has been consistently low. I am proud that in the last year, so many Floridians have achieved financial stability through new job opportunities,” said Cissy Proctor, the executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. “This shows that the Sunshine State’s economy is stronger than ever and Floridians are able to find a good job, start a business or grow their career in this great state.”

Private-sector industries which gained the most jobs in the past year include:

• Construction–35,800 new jobs
• Education and health services–35,600 new jobs
• Professional and business services–35,400 new jobs
• Leisure and hospitality–32,900 new jobs
• Trade, transportation and utilities–30,600 new jobs

The Tampa area led the state with the addition of 39,700 new private-sector jobs in the last year. It was followed by the Orlando area with 38,000 new jobs and the Fort Lauderdale area with 28,000.

For more information on the July employment data, click here.