Florida continues to see a slight uptick in unemployment claims, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday.
The report showed an estimated 7,140 first-time unemployment applications filed in Florida during the week that ended June 22nd. This marks the fourth consecutive week with over 7,000 claims, a trend not seen in the state since mid-January 2023.
While concerning on the surface, last week’s total was down from 7,766 claims filed during the week that ended June 15th. Additionally, Florida’s unemployment rate remains steady at 3.3%, which is lower than the national average.
Economists are unsure of the exact cause for the rise in claims, but some speculate it could be due to seasonal factors. They predict the claims will hover around the 7,000 mark for a few weeks before trending downward again.
Despite the slight increase in unemployment claims, Florida’s job market appears to be on somewhat stable ground.
The state’s unemployment rate remains lower than the national average, and the number of new claims has decreased slightly over the past week.