Florida jobless claims drop for second week in a row, indicating initial recovery from hurricanes

The U.S. unemploynet ticked up a bit. Image via AP.

New unemployment claims for Florida are continuing to return to normal levels after a turbulent month and a half following two hurricanes that plowed into the state back to back.

First-time jobless claims jumped substantially after Hurricane Helene barreled into the Big Bend area on Sept. 26. They spiked again after Hurricane Milton struck the Gulf Coast on Oct. 9. New unemployment claims reached the highest numbers seen this year following Milton and only started to settle again for the week ending Nov. 2, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

The latest weekly jobless report, for the week ending Nov. 9, showed the same declining trend. There were 6,356 jobless filings last week, down by 485 from the previous week, before seasonal adjustments.

It’s also the second week in a row that Florida bucked the national trend, where first-time unemployment claims increased. There were 229,478 new unemployment filings across the country last week. That’s up by 16,375 claims from the previous week or a 7.7% jump across America.

Florida’s decrease in initial jobless claims is a significant and welcomed contrast compared to the weeks immediately following Hurricane Milton. There were more than 10,000 new weekly unemployment claims for the week ending Oct. 19, the highest level of weekly jobless numbers this year, and a sharp contrast to a relatively stable unemployment pace throughout the Summer and into early Fall. There were still another 8,108 unemployment claims for the week ending Oct. 26 before seasonal adjustments, still high compared to most weeks this year.

Unemployment claims for the week following Hurricane Helene weren’t much better, but were a little lower.

It’s not clear how the recent jobless claim spikes will impact October’s general unemployment rate, released monthly. FloridaCommerce’s recent report showed the general unemployment figure holding steady at 3.3% for the month of September. Florida hasn’t seen that figure change for six straight months and the last time there was even a slight uptick in the general jobless figure was in early Spring. Florida’s October jobless figure is due to be released within days.

Florida’s unemployment rate has remained below the national figure for 47 straight months. The national rate now stands at 4.1%.