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Florida Jobless Claims Increase
For the first time since mid-May, Florida posted an uptick in weekly unemployment claims, according to an estimate Thursday from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The department issued a report that estimated 6,690 first-time jobless claims were filed in Florida last week, up from 5,376 during the week that ended June 3.
Meanwhile, an estimated 262,000 claims were filed nationally last week, unchanged from revised numbers for the prior week.
Last week’s Florida estimate was the highest since 7,121 claims were filed during the week that ended Jan. 14.
Florida has averaged 5,928 claims over the past four weeks.
The estimate came as the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity prepares to release a May unemployment report Friday.
Florida had a 2.6 percent unemployment rate in April, with an estimated 281,000 Floridians qualified as out-of-work from a labor force of 10.96 million.
The national unemployment rate in May was 3.7 percent.
