Florida lowered jobless claims to pre-pandemic levels
Florida continues to see first-time jobless claims at a similar rate to before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the state's economy.
The US Department of Labor released a report on Thursday estimating that 5.734 new jobless claims were filed in Florida last week, Miami.CBSLocal reported.
This figure is lower than the revised count of 5.925 claims for the week ending February 5 and brings the four-week average number of claims down to 6.421.
The state has averaged 7.201 applications a week since mid-May, when Florida leaders stepped up efforts to get people back to work during the pandemic.
The number of applications nationwide increased by 23.000 last week, to 248.000. State and federal agencies mark March 15, 2020 as the start of the pandemic for unemployment purposes.
During the previous four weeks, Florida registered an average of 5.376 weekly requests. Unemployment figures released last month showed the state had recovered 92,1% of the 1,27 million jobs lost in the early phases of the pandemic.
Florida's unemployment rate stood at 4,4 percent in December, representing an estimated 466.000 unemployed-qualified Floridians out of a workforce of 10,66 million. The January report will be released on March 14.
Miami Daily
Author: MiamiDiario JM 7:36 am