Florida’s new unemployment claims drop for third week in a row

Everyone’s hiring. Image via AP.

The downward trend for new unemployment claims in Florida continued in the run-up to the Thanksgiving Day holiday break, indicating a continued jobs recovery following back-to-back hurricane strikes in Florida this Fall.

There was a decline in first-time jobless filings for the week ending Nov. 23 in Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). There were 6,085 initial unemployment claims for the week prior to Thanksgiving before seasonal adjustments, down by 195 filings for the week ending Nov. 16.

It’s the third week in a row that new unemployment filings have fallen in Florida. That’s an indication that the jobs picture in the Sunshine State has finally stabilized following the hits by Hurricane Helene in Florida’s Big Bend area on Sept. 26 and the pounding by Hurricane Milton that slammed the Gulf Coast on Oct. 9.

Both hurricanes resulted in dramatic spikes in first-time jobless filings in the state. After Helene, claims climbed to more than 8,000 for the week ending Nov. 5. While numbers returned to a more normal range the following week, Hurricane Milton then whacked the state, resulting in a much more dramatic spike in claims. Reports showed more than 10,000 initial jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 19, and numbers were still high for the week ending Oct. 26.

Prior to the hurricanes, Florida’s new unemployment claims had remained relatively stable through most of the Summer into the Fall, with many weeks seeing fewer than 6,000 claims.

The week ending Nov. 23 also saw Florida bucking the national trend. While the Sunshine State saw first-time jobless filings drop, the figure across the U.S. actually increased. There were 243,389 new unemployment claims for the week ending Nov. 23. That’s up by 29,101 initial claims, or a 13.6% increase, for that week.