Florida last week had the largest number of first-time unemployment claims in more than two months, but the pace remains similar to the period before COVID-19 slammed into the economy in early 2020.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday released a report that estimated 6,014 claims were filed in Florida during the week that ended April 8, up from a revised count of 5,096 for the week ending April 1.
Last week’s estimated total was the largest number since 6,434 claims were filed during the week that ended Feb. 4.
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The state has averaged 5,329 claims over the past four weeks. Meanwhile, an estimated 239,000 claims were filed last week nationally, up 11,000 from the previous week.
That was the highest total for a week since Jan. 14, 2022, when 251,000 claims were filed. Thursday’s report came after the Department of Labor said last week that the U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in March. Florida had a 2.6 percent unemployment rate in February.
That reflected 284,000 people qualified as unemployed, down 2,000 from a month earlier. At the same time, the labor force grew by 24,000 to 10.879 million.
The state Department of Economic Opportunity will release a March unemployment report on April 21.
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