Jobless aid applications in Florida hit highest figure since August as COVID takes toll
New unemployment assistance applications in Florida unexpectedly hit their highest total since August, as damage to the state’s labor market from the pandemic continues.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Thursday reported new jobless claims in the Sunshine State climbed from 39,226 to 57,824 over the past week. A DOL spokesman said last week’s reported figure of about 27,000 new claims was a department estimate that had been revised upward to 39,226 this week after Florida officials submitted new figures; the spokesman added it is not unusual for states to be unable to report in time for Thursday releases in shortened weeks with federal holidays like Martin Luther King Day.
In the end, new claims for the week ending Jan. 23 are the highest since Aug. 15, 2020.
It was not immediately clear what caused Thursday’s surge in new jobless claims; representatives for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity did not respond to requests for comment. In a note to clients Thursday, Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at research group Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the U.S. labor market will not begin showing true signs of health until this spring.
“It now appears that the underlying trend in claims has risen over recent weeks,” he said.
Last week, Florida officials announced the state’s unemployment rate had fallen from 6.3% to 6.1% in December while seeing eight consecutive months of job growth.
But economists say the official unemployment rate masks the toll the pandemic has taken on Florida’s workforce. In addition to the 587,000 workers in the state who remained unemployed in December, another 304,000 have left the labor force entirely.
“Discouraged workers have dropped out of the labor force since the pandemic,” said PNC economist Abbey Omodunbi in an email. “Presumably many of them would like to be working. Many people have been discouraged from looking for work due to health concerns or child-care responsibilities.”
Among them is Lisa Wright, a former consultant for the cruise industry based in Broward County. Wright said she was fortunate that her LLC received a Paycheck Protection Program loan of about $9,000. She has also continued to receive unemployment benefits through the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.
“I haven’t been doing a hard [job] search,” Wright told the Miami Herald in December. “Because, one, I have an autoimmune disorder, so I’m not going to work in an office without the vaccine. So the only thing I’d even consider is remote. And to be honest, there’s not a ton [of work] out there.”
This is a developing story.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
