How well is the $825 billion stimulus package, pushed by Florida Governor Charlie Crist and signed by President Obama, working for the Sunshine State? Actually, it’s not working at all.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that unemployment in Florida hit 11.9% during the month of January. That means more Floridians are out of work now than have been since 1975. Basically, it’s a 35-year high.

The Sunshine State’s total nonagricultural employment in January was 7,144,300, representing a month-over-month decline of 6,100 jobs and a year-over-year loss of 303,200 jobs.

In the seven-county Tampa Bay area, Hernando had the highest unemployment rate with 15.7 percent. This marks a 0.8 percent increase from December and a 3.6 percent year-over-year increase…

Pasco reported 14.3 percent unemployment, up from 13.3 percent in December and 10.5 percent in January 2009. Sarasota had 13.4 percent in January, followed by Polk with 13.3 percent and Manatee with 13.2 percent.

Good Lord. 14.3% unemployment matches the statewide rate for Michigan, which typically serves as the poster child for a state in financial distress.

Floridians need to start, or continue as the case may be, asking themselves what the $825 billion “stimulus” package has done for their state. Especially considering one of the legislation’s most prominent backers, Charlie Crist, is now seeking a seat in the United States Senate.

Crist’s opponent, Marco Rubio, released the following statement after the unemployment data was released:

“At the one year mark, it’s clear that President Obama’s and Governor Crist’s stimulus has failed the people of Florida. What was billed by them and other proponents as a job-creating panacea has instead served to grow government and increase our debt. For the record, the only backs I care about in this race are the backs of our children, upon which big government proponents continue piling trillions of dollars of debt.

“Today’s jobs report is a warning sign to Washington. If President Obama and his allies finalize their push for costly taxes, spending and regulation initiatives like the health care reform bill, they will put our economy in even further short and long term danger. As President Obama and Washington Democrats prepare to ram through their government takeover of health care, they do so at their peril. It’s alarming my opponent doesn’t believe this plan should be scrapped.

“While my opponent is focused on trivial and fabricated matters, I remain focused on my campaign to go to Washington, stand up to President Obama’s job-killing agenda and offer an alternative that encourages job creation by providing entrepreneurs with the incentives to invest and assurances their risk-taking will not be penalized. The first needed step towards creating jobs and lasting economic growth is for Washington policymakers to cease their assault on the free market, beginning with a scrapping of the current health care proposal on the table.”

No wonder Crist is falling the polls by the day. He campaigned alongside Barack Obama for potentially the biggest legislative and fiscal flop in American history. He doesn’t deserve a seat in the United States Senate.