New Florida jobless applications fall even as U.S. numbers climb to a one-month high
New applications for unemployment assistance in Florida fell last week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday, but unexpectedly climbed for the U.S. as a whole — a sign that trouble persists in the pandemic.
For the week ending March 13, fresh jobless claims in Florida fell from a revised 19,281 to 16,709. Taking into account the revisions, new claims climbed in the three previous weeks, showing a slightly accelerated pace of fresh layoffs in the Sunshine State.
Continuing jobless claims, or the number of Florida workers getting unemployment assistance for at least two straight weeks, fell from 141,484 to 122,885. It’s likely some of that decline reflected the expiration of benefits.
New claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or for benefits targeted at workers not eligible for regular unemployment assistance, in Florida climbed from 2,925 to 3,860.
For the U.S., new claims unexpectedly climbed from a revised 725,000 to 770,000 — well above economists’ estimates for 700,000 reported by Bloomberg News. In total, more than 18 million workers were still receiving unemployment aid on the week. While that is down from last June’s 32.5 million peak, it’s still nearly twice as high as the 11.6 million high reached during the Great Recession, according to The Century Foundation, a left-leaning think-tank.
“Even in the best scenario of rapid economic growth that was forecast by the Federal Reserve this week, it will take many months for businesses to reopen and rehire the legions still on jobless rolls,” Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, said in a statement. “Senator [Chuck] Schumer promised jobless workers an historic increase in unemployment benefits to meet the challenge of the pandemic — and workers have needed, and continue to need, every bit of it to get by.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 9:20 AM.
