Northeast Florida jobless claims surged in March

Coronavirus and related restrictions in commerce and movement crushed the Northeast Florida job market in March.

More job loss is sure to come, as the March unemployment report represents just the first wave of displaced workers.

In Northeast Florida, unemployment surged to 4.3% in March, a sharp increase from the 3.2% rate the month before.

Just over 35,000 are currently looking for work, per the report.

The regional number matches the state jobless rate, and both are below the 4.5% national level.

Throughout the region, however, joblessness ranged from 3.7% in St. Johns County to 6% in Putnam County.

Duval County, which encompasses Jacksonville and the Beaches, settled at 4.5%, 1.2% over March’s 3.3% unemployment rate.

Much of the report from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s Bureau of Workforce Statistics and Economic Research addressed year-over-year comparisons, likely useless given the economic changes underway throughout the nation.

Duval County has tried to bolster small businesses to promote job retention during the current economic turbulence.

The “COVID-19 Small Business Relief & Employee Retention Grant Program”, seeded with $9 million of city money in the current year’s budget, will facilitate $50 million of loans for businesses with as few as two and as many as 100 employees.

Low-interest loans are the main vehicle, but there are grants and loan forgiveness options for certain businesses should they maintain employment levels.

The novel coronavirus and the precautions taken to slow its spread continue to wreak havoc on Florida’s job market.

Last week saw another massive number of new unemployment applicants, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

New claims in the state reached 181,293, up 11,408 over the previous week, which saw 169,885 new claims.

Florida was one of the few states that saw an increase in claims, a measure of difficulties displaced workers have had applying for work.

Nationally, there were 5.2 million new applicants for unemployment, a decrease of 1.4 million week over week. All told, roughly 22 million have filed in the last four weeks nationally.