Unemployment claims in Florida dipped slightly last week, while the number of first-time claims nationally fell to the lowest mark since September.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday released a report that estimated 5,685 new claims were filed in Florida during the week that ended Dec. 10, down from a revised count of 6,393 during the week that ended Dec. 3.
The latest numbers show the state continuing to move away from a surge of claims after Category 4 Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida on Sept. 28 and crossed the state. Since the start of November, the state has averaged 6,041 claims a week.
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Before Hurricane Ian, the state had averaged 6,120 claims a week going back to the beginning of July. In the three weeks after Ian, the state averaged 11,871 claims.
Nationally, 211,000 claims were filed last week, a drop of 20,000 from the week ending Dec. 3. Florida had a 2.7 percent unemployment rate in October, with an estimated 285,000 people qualified as unemployed from a workforce of 10.75 million.
The state Department of Economic Opportunity will release November statistics on Friday.
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