Florida unemployment claims inch up

First-time unemployment claims in Florida rose for the second straight week.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 6,740 initial claims were filed last week in the state, up from a revised count of 5,796 during the week that ended June 4 and 3,698 during the week that ended May 28.

Last week’s total was the highest for Florida since the week ending Jan. 22, when 7,346 claims were filed.

The Department of Labor also estimated that the number of claims nationally dipped from 232,000 during the week that ended June 4 to 229,000 last week.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity will release a May unemployment report Friday.

Florida’s first-time claim numbers remain similar to totals before March 15, 2020, the date used by state and federal agencies to mark the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for employment purposes.

Florida had a 3 percent unemployment rate in April, reflecting 321,000 people qualified as unemployed from a workforce of 10.54 million.

Tags: News Service of Florida