Drew Dixon
Florida’s unemployment picture continues to be rocked by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which careened into the state within two weeks of each other.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) showed a decrease in Florida’s first-time jobless benefit filings for the week ending Oct. 26. But the number of initial jobless claims still remains high, especially compared to relatively low figures through the Summer and into Fall.
There were 8,108 new unemployment claims last week before seasonal adjustments, down from the whopping 10,574 for the week ending Oct. 19. That high in last week’s report number was due mainly to a large number of people knocked out of work the week after Milton crashed into Florida’s west coast. The storm prompted the highest number of jobless claims in the state for any week this year.
That jump in jobless claims came after the state was just starting to settle down on new unemployment claims following Hurricane Helene’s strike in the Big Bend area. That storm resulted in a big jump in weekly jobless filings for the week ending Oct. 5. But the next week, unemployment claims returned to about 6,000 after hitting more than 9,000 post-Helene. At the time, that post-Helene spike was the highest number of weekly unemployment filings this year.
But Milton is causing even more issues. Even the drop in this week’s report to some 8,000 claims is higher than any other week before the hurricane strikes on the state. Throughout most of this Summer, there were few increases in weekly jobless claims, and the total number for any one week exceeded 7,000 only once.
The Florida weekly jobless figures also buck the national trend, which has rarely happened this year. The total number of first-time unemployment claims nationally for the week ending Oct. 26 was 200,132, a decrease of 3,349 claims, or a 1.6% decline.
It’s not clear how the dramatic increase in claims will impact the overall general unemployment picture in Florida. The monthly report from FloridaCommerce for October won’t come until after mid-November. But the most recent general monthly report for unemployment in Florida showed a steady unemployment rate of 3.3%.
Florida hasn’t seen that monthly figure change for six straight months and the last time there was even a slight uptick in the general monthly jobless figure was in early Spring.
Florida’s monthly unemployment rate has remained below the national figure for 47 straight months. The national rate now stands at 4.1%.
The impact on jobs from the hurricanes prompted FloridaCommerce to initiate a new state assistance program for those who lost jobs due to Hurricane Helene. That program went into effect Tuesday.
