New unemployment claims in Florida down slightly

New applications for unemployment aid in Florida continue to tumble — though slowly. For the week ending Nov. 21, new jobless claims fell to 23,982, down from 24,358 the week prior, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report released Wednesday.

Nationally, the number continues to climb. The U.S. total of new unemployment claims filed last week hit 778,000. That’s up 30,000 from the week prior, according to the report.

“Seeing the combination of a rise in the number of weekly filings for unemployment benefits and an increase in the number of long-term filers is quite concerning and it points to a critical situation as we approach the end of the year, at which point pending any policy decisions, benefits for close to 14 million people will expire,” said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

Two programs passed in March under the federal CARES Act will expire just after Christmas: the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides up to 39 weeks of benefits for workers ineligible for regular unemployment insurance, including the self-employed, and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.

“Broadly speaking, the levels are quite concerning,” Daco added. “Nationally, we are in a situation where you have a very large number of people filing for unemployment benefits and while there had been a decrease leading up to two weeks ago, we’re still seeing national levels higher than those posted at the height of the financial crisis 10 years ago.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 10:27 AM.