Drew Dixon
Florida has been on a roll, with first-time weekly unemployment claims dropping for about the past month. But the newest figures showed initial jobless figures in Florida have increased for the first time in five weeks.
There were 7,687 new jobless claims in Florida for the week ending July 12, according to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) figures. That’s an increase from the previous week by 1,135 claims, before seasonal adjustments.
Weekly first-time jobless claims had been fluctuating week to week for most of this year until the middle of June, when a streak of declining claims began.
Last week’s initial unemployment claims matched the national trend. Across America, there were 279,032 initial jobless claims before seasonal adjustments for the week ending July 12. That’s up by 36,824 from the previous week, or a 15.2% increase for the weekly national figure.
The state fluctuations in the weekly first-time jobless claims run counter to the general stability in overall unemployment figures for Florida. The May figures for the broader unemployment rate for Florida held steady at a 3.3% unemployment rate, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The Sunshine State’s overall jobless figure has remained lower than the national rate for 43 straight weeks. New figures for the June state general unemployment rate are expected to be released within days.
One comment
PeterH
July 18, 2024 at 11:21 am
Florida’s summer tourism is largely dependent on South American visitors. The right wing libertarian government in Argentina has turned their economy upside down. Many of Argentina’s southern neighbor trading partners are caught up in the spiral.
Additionally, the promise of a horrible hurricane season here in Florida hasn’t helped tourism.
The Florida hospitality industry will take a hit until early December!