New unemployment claims dropping in Florida as state reopens, but economy still hit hard
New unemployment claims in Florida hit 86,298 for the week ending June 13, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday — the second straight week that the initial figure hit a new post-pandemic low as the Sunshine State continues to reopen.
New jobless claims across the U.S. also continued to fall. For the prior week, seasonally adjusted initial claims hit 1.5 million — a decrease of 58,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
The state and federal data represent the claims for unemployment assistance from individuals who have lost their jobs.
But Florida’s economy remains besieged. According to Florida’s unemployment dashboard, more than two million state workers have now filed for unemployment assistance since March 15, a figure representing about 23% of the state’s entire workforce. The Labor Department Thursday reported that more than 800,000 Florida workers continue to receive unemployment benefits, though this represented a decline of about 76,000 from the prior week.
On June 10, the W South Beach hotel notified the state of temporary layoffs and furloughs affecting 385 workers. On June 12, the Hyatt Regency in Miami said it would lay off 209. In Kissimmee, the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center announced temporary reductions affecting 1,311 workers.
Despite a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week that the state would not roll back its reopening plans. Across the state, restaurants, bars, gyms, tattoo parlors, and hotels have begun reopening for regular business.
Recent economic data suggests damage to the U.S. economy from the COVID-19 outbreak has bottomed. Employers added 2.5 million jobs last month, and the unemployment rate declined from 14.7% to 13.3%. Meanwhile, retail purchases soared in May. Federal assistance like the Paycheck Protection Program loans have likely staved off even more severe harm to American businesses.
“We think PPP loans and the reopening policies are continuing to support the labor market data,” said UBS economist Seth Carpenter in a recent note to clients. “The drop in initial claims would be larger except a handful of states have chronically high layoff rates.”
Kevin Rinz, an economist with the U.S. Census Bureau, noted that more than 1 million U.S. workers would have exhausted unemployment benefits if not for the CARES Act’s Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
“The increase in PEUC claims between 5/23 and 5/30 was greater than the decrease in regular continuing claims,” he said on Twitter Thursday.
In testimony last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said more stimulus would be needed. When asked by Utah Senator Mitt Romney why further legislation would be needed, Mnuchin replied: “There is still significant damage in parts of the economy.”
Thursday morning, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley tweeted, “Another week of shockingly high unemployment claims. Too many Americans are still out of work. I again call on my Senate colleagues to join me in passing new relief that will enable business to rehire workers and get America back to work #RehireAmerica.”
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 8:55 AM.
