Weekly new unemployment claims in Florida show a rare Summer increase

First-time unemployment claims dropped for the week ending June 22.

Florida saw an increase in new unemployment insurance claims for the week ending Sept. 14, one of the few times this Summer that number has risen in the state.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported that 6,491 first-time unemployment claims were filed in the previous week. That’s up by 486 compared to the week ending Sept. 7, before seasonal adjustments.

The latest initial weekly jobless claims report comes after Florida started off September on a good note. There were fewer new weekly unemployment insurance benefits claims for the week ending Sept. 7 than the final week of August. DOL reported 6,081 first-time unemployment claims for the week ending Sept. 7, a week-to-week decrease of 321 filings.

While there was a rare increase in jobless filings in Florida this past week, once again the Sunshine State is in line with the national trend.

The DOL report showed there was a jump in unemployment claims last week across the nation,. The national figure came in at 184,845 first-time unemployment claims for the week ending Sept. 14. That’s a 3.6% increase over the previous week.

While the latest report did show an increase in new unemployment claims, throughout most of the Summer, Florida has seen new unemployment claims dropping, with a few exceptions. The last time there was a notable increase was for the week ending Aug. 17, when there was a sharp spike in first-time claims. That week saw the biggest increase since the Spring. But the mid-August jump was quickly countered the following week with another drop in claims.

The weekly figures for Florida also reflect the state’s generally stable monthly unemployment rates that have held steady for four straight months at 3.3%, sitting well below the national figure of 4.3%. Even prior to that sustained four-month streak, the Sunshine State saw only modest increases by about 0.1 percentage points in the general jobless rate earlier this year.

In addition, Florida’s general monthly unemployment rate has remained below the national figure for 45 straight months.