By News Service of Florida
Florida saw a drop in first-time unemployment claims heading into the Labor Day weekend.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 5,576 initial unemployment applications were submitted in Florida last week, down from a revised count of 6,177 during the week that ended Aug. 23.
Over the past four weeks, Florida has averaged 6,086 claims.
Nationally, an estimated 237,000 claims were filed last week, up from 229,000 the previous week.
The national numbers are seasonally adjusted, while the state numbers are not adjusted.
The national unemployment rate in July was 4.2 percent, while Florida’s rate was 3.7 percent.