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There was a substantial decline in first-time jobless claims in Florida for the week ending April 18.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports there were 5,483 new unemployment filings in the latest update. That’s a drop by 904 claims from the previous week, when there were 6,387.
The Florida trend was on par with the national numbers. There were 205,306 filings across America for the second full week of April. That’s down by 9,736 claims from the previous week, which is a 4.5% drop.
The national slip wasn’t quite as steep as expected. DOL analysts had projected a slide of 15,998 initial claims, which would have been a 7.4% decline.
The year-over-year comparison also saw a drop in filings. There were 210,816 initial claims for the comparable week in 2025.
The decline in Florida new filings comes as the general unemployment rate has been increasing in the latest data released by FloridaCommerce, the state’s economic development bureau. The most recent monthly jobless rate for February was 4.6%. That was the second month in a row that figure saw a hike after January’s unemployment rate rose to 4.5%.
Florida’s unemployment figure has also been higher than the national figure for two months straight. February’s nationwide unemployment rate was 4.4%. Previously, Florida hadn’t seen a higher jobless figure than the national rate since 2021.
Out of the 25 metropolitan areas FloridaCommerce tracks, 15 of them lost jobs when compared to last year. The West Palm Beach area saw the biggest decline, falling by 10,500 jobs, or a 1.5% slip. The Fort Lauderdale area fell by 9,400 jobs, a decline of 1%. And the Fort Myers area dropped by 4,600 jobs, down by 1.4%.
The unemployment rate data for March is expected to be released by Florida Commerce officials in early May.
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