Drew Dixon
After several weeks of modest unemployment claims numbers in Florida, the latest report from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) showed a sharp increase, confirming the holiday hiring spree is in the rearview mirror as 2025 moves onward.
There were 7,178 initial jobless benefit claims filed for the week ending Jan. 11 before seasonal adjustments. That’s up from 5,018 last week, an increase of 2,160 claims.
It’s the first significant spike in jobless claims in Florida in more than a month and the first time that unemployment filings exceeded 7,000 since the state was recovering after back-to-back hurricanes in September and October.
The increase comes after the settling of the holiday season. Initial unemployment claims plummeted in Florida in the holiday season when retailers were hiring more workers to handle shoppers leading up to the Thanksgiving Black Friday weekend and into most of the remaining holiday season through New Year’s Day.
Several weeks during the holiday stretch saw new unemployment claims plunge below 4,000 per week, the lowest figures of the year. There were few weeks in 2024 that saw new claims fall under 5,000.
The figures did dramatically increase after Hurricane Helene in September and Hurricane Milton in October. Shortly after Helene hit the Big Bend on Sept. 26, initial jobless claims jumped above 8,000. Following Milton slamming the Gulf Coast on Oct. 9, first-time claims skyrocketed past 10,000. It took three weeks before that figure would fall below 8,000 again.
The latest Florida numbers fall in line with the national trend. There were 351,885 new jobless claims across the county for the week ending Jan.11. That’s up by 45,228, or a 14.7% increase, before seasonal adjustments.
In the broader picture, unemployment figures for Florida were fairly stable for most of the past year. The general unemployment rate held steady at 3.3% for most of 2024, though that figure ticked up to 3.4% in November. FloridaCommerce is expected to release the latest jobless rate for December within days.
Florida’s unemployment rate has remained lower than the national figure for 49 straight months. The national jobless rate now stands at 4.2%.
