Drew Dixon
For the third week in a row, initial jobless claims declined in Florida.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) report for the week ending March 29 showed that there were 5,402 new unemployment claims. That’s down by 212 filings from the week ending March 22, when there were 5,614 claims.
The latest report indicates first-time unemployment claims haven’t increased since early March and for the majority of this year. And the figure hasn’t exceeded 6,000 since early 2025.
The latest Florida figures also go against the grain of the national trend. There were 200,057 new unemployment claims across America for the week ending March 29, according to DOL. That number is a slight increase from the previous report by 157 more filings, or a 0.1% uptick.
The most recent report on the number of national initial jobless filings also is an increase in the year-over-year comparison. There were 197,349 new claims for the same time last year.
The good news is that DOL analysts had expected a larger increase in new claims. DOL had projected that there would be 5,403 more first-time jobless filings or a 2.7% increase.
The latest figures come as the monthly jobless report was issued by FloridaCommerce, which showed February had an uptick. The unemployment rate increased from 3.5% in January to 3.6%. It was the second straight month where the unemployment rate increased after that figure had held steady at 3.4% for most of the back half of 2024.
Florida’s unemployment rate is still lower than the national figure, which came in at 4.1%. It’s the 52nd month in a row that Florida’s jobless figure was lower than the rate across America.
“There were 398,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 11,196,000,” FloridaCommerce officials said in a news release.
Manufacturing employment showed notable growth, reaching 432,000 jobs in the state, the highest level since 2002.
Miami had the lowest unemployment rate among large metropolitan markets in the state at 2.6%. Pensacola and Fort Myers were tied for the highest jobless rates in big cities, coming in at 4%.
