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Florida saw a rough start to June on the jobs front.
First-time unemployment claims spiked sharply in the first week of June, wiping out nearly a month of falling filings, according to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) data.
There were 7,447 initial jobless claims in Florida for the week ending June 6. That’s up by 2,084 filings from the week ending May 30, when there were 5,363. It also snaps an upbeat run for the Sunshine State, which saw three straight weeks of declining new claims.
The latest Florida figures show the second-highest number of new claims for any single week this year. The previous high mark was in early May, when the figure exceeded 8,000. But that was largely due to Spirit Airlines laying off workers after the commercial carrier shut down its operations at several hubs in Florida that employed about 4,800 people combined.
The latest Florida numbers are in line with the national trend. There were 228,276 new filings to start June across the country. That’s a whopping 21.3% increase in new unemployment claims for the week ending June 6, or a bump of 39,713.
DOL officials had expected an increase in new claims to start the month, but not quite this big. Economists with the agency had projected there would be a nationwide jump by 35,595 claims, which would have been an 18.9% bump.
In the year-over-year comparison, though, there was a drop in initial claims. There were 243,980 new filings nationwide for the comparable week in 2025.
While new filings in Florida are fluctuating, Florida’s general unemployment rate has been climbing every month this year. The April jobless rate was 4.8%, according to FloridaCommerce, the state’s economic development bureau.
The Florida figure is higher than the national jobless rate, which was 4.3% in April. The national rate held steady in May as well. FloridaCommerce is expected to publish the state’s jobless figure for May by the end of the month.
The post Florida sees steep jump in new jobless filings to begin June appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
