July starts with sharp drop in new unemployment claims in Florida

The number of first-time unemployment claims in Florida dropped. Image via AP.

July started on an upbeat note for the Florida unemployment picture.

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) data shows there was a significant 14.5% drop in new unemployment filings for the week ending July 5 in the Sunshine state. In total, there were 6,035 initial jobless claims for that week. That’s down by 1,025 from the week ending June 28, when there were 7,060 claims.

Reports on new unemployment claims have been erratic in the past month. June started out with a dramatic spike in new filings, which soared past 8,000 for the only time this year. Then those figures steadily dropped for a few weeks before a nearly 6% uptick in the final week of June.

Florida’s latest report showing a significant decrease in claims cuts against the national trend, which saw an increase in new filings.

DOL officials say there were 240,802 filings across America to start July. That’s a 4.3% increase over the week ending June 28, a jump of 10,004.

Economists with the DOL had expected a bigger surge. They had projected a 6.4% hike, or an increase of 14,845 claims.

Claims nationwide were down compared to the same period a year ago. There were 242,191 new unemployment claims to start July 2024. The latest figures show a modest drop of 1,389 filings from a year ago. It’s the second week in a row that national claims fell compared to 2024.

The state’s general unemployment rate has remained steady for the past couple of months, with April and May holding at 3.7%, according to FloridaCommerce, the state’s employment and business development bureau.

Florida has had a lower unemployment rate than the national figure for 55 straight months. The June national jobless figure stands at 4.1%, according to the DOL. FloridaCommerce is expected to release the June figure for the state in the next few weeks.