Florida Jobless Claims Decrease

First-time jobless claims in Florida dipped heading into the end-of-the-year holidays, with the U.S. Department of Labor estimating 5,207 unemployment applications were filed during the week that ended Dec. 23. That was down from a revised count of 5,713 claims during the week that ended Dec. 16 and was below the weekly average of 5,819 since the start of October. The U.S. Department of Labor issued its weekly report after the Florida Department of Commerce on Friday said the state had a 2.9 percent unemployment rate in November, up from 2.8 percent in October. The November rate reflected 324,000 people out of work from a labor force of 11.19 million. Florida started the year with an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent. Nationally, 218,000 initial claims were filed last week, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week. The national unemployment rate, which has been under 4 percent for 22 months, was 3.7 percent in November.

Tags: News Service of Florida