Jobless Claims Up In Florida

By The News Service of Florida

The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 5,458 first-time jobless claims were filed in Florida last week, up on a revised count of 5,084 for the week ending Feb. 28.

With a jobless rate at 4.3 percent, the state has now averaged 5,509 initial claims a week over the past four weeks. A week ago, the rolling weekly average was 5,549.

Florida’s unemployment rate reflects mid-December conditions with an estimated 486,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed from a workforce of 11.225 million people.

The number will be updated on April 8.

Nationally, with the jobless rate at 4.4 percent, 213,000 claims were filed last week, down from a revised count of 214,000 the prior week.