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Florida jobless claims top 11,000
As Florida continues recovering from Hurricane Ian, first-time unemployment claims in the state are coming in at the highest numbers of the year.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday released a report that estimated 11,078 new claims were filed during the week that ended Oct. 15, down from a revised count of 14,934 during the week that ended Oct. 8.
While the total fell, last week was only the third time this year that Florida’s seven-day total topped 10,000 claims. The state recorded 10,103 claims during the first week of 2022.
Florida has averaged 6,155 claims a week this year.
Nationally, an estimated 214,000 claims were filed last week, down 12,000 from the previous week.
In anticipation of more claims after the hurricane, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity eliminated what is known as the “waiting week” before unemployment benefits can be paid on claims made in storm-damaged areas.
The agency also suspended a requirement that applicants in the areas contact five potential employers a week to keep unemployment benefits flowing.
The Department of Economic Opportunity on Friday will release a September unemployment report. But that will reflect conditions in mid-September, before Hurricane Ian made landfall Sept. 28 in Southwest Florida and crossed the state.
Florida had a 2.7 percent unemployment rate in August, with an estimated 293,000 residents out of work from a labor force of 10.706 million.
The Department of Labor has estimated the country added 263,000 jobs in September, with the national unemployment rate dropping from 3.7 percent to 3.5 percent.
