Florida’s new unemployment claims go up for the first time in weeks

Florida’s new unemployment claims have increased for the first time in about a month.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports there were 6,486 new jobless filings for the week ending Feb. 8 in Florida. That’s up from the 5,962 claims for the week ending Feb. 1, or an increase of 524 claims.

The latest Florida report is reversed from a relatively upbeat January that mostly saw declines in first-time unemployment filings. The final three full weeks of January each saw new claims drop.

The newest Florida report was also not in line with the national trend. First-time jobless claims decreased last week across the country. There were 231,006 new filings nationwide for the week ending Feb. 8. That’s down by 10,095 from the previous week, or a 4.2% drop.

DOL officials said that decline was larger than expected. DOL officials had expected a drop in new claims of 1,761, or a 0.7% drop.

National unemployment claim filings also declined year-over-year. There were only 223,985 new jobless filings in the comparable week in 2024.

Florida’s unemployment picture remains relatively solid, despite the slight uptick in first-time claims in the past week. The latest general unemployment rate is 3.4%, just a small uptick from the 3.3% rate seen in Florida through the Spring and Summer months.

Florida’s general unemployment rate has remained under the national jobless figure for 50 straight months. As of January, the national jobless rate was 4%.

Florida, meanwhile, continues to add jobs to the workforce, according to FloridaCommerce. December saw 17,900 private-sector jobs added compared to November. The number of private-sector jobs compared to a year ago has increased by 122,800. That increase outpaced the national private-sector job growth rate of 1.3% in the same time span.