The post New unemployment claims in Florida spike in early May following shutdown of Spirit Airlines appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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New unemployment claims spiked dramatically for the week ending May 9 in Florida — a period that coincided with the collapse of Spirit Airlines.
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) figures show there were 7,968 first-time jobless filings last week. That’s up by 2,395 claims over the week ending May 2, when there were 5,573 claims. The latest numbers also snap the three-week trend of new unemployment claims declining.
After Spirit went under, an estimated 4,800 Floridians lost jobs. The commercial carrier shut down without warning May 2. Spirit had hubs at several Florida airports, most notably in South and Central Florida.
FloridaCommerce, the state’s business development bureau, held “rapid response” emergency relief worker assistance events both in Orange and Broward counties last week to help displaced airline workers recover from their job losses.
Spirit shut down because company officials said the airline could not cope with skyrocketing fuel costs.
Last week’s total figure for new unemployment claims in Florida is the highest so far this year.
It’s also the steepest single-week increase in the Sunshine State in about two years. The last time Florida saw such a sharp jump was in 2024, in the wake of Hurricanes Milton and Helene. During one week in October 2024, the number of new jobless claims exceeded 10,000.
Last week’s new jobless claims figures in Florida are in line with the national picture. There were 190,571 new filings across the country for the week ending May 9. That’s a 5.7% jump from the week prior, or an increase of 10,258 filings.
That far exceeded the projection of DOL economists, who expected a marginal increase of only 199 new claims.
New filings decreased nationwide year to year, as there were 203,579 initial claims for the comparable week in 2025.
The post New unemployment claims in Florida spike in early May following shutdown of Spirit Airlines appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
