Florida jobless claims down to 173,000 as U.S. total climbs past 33 million

by | May 7, 2020

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Florida unemployment claims plummeted to 173,000, as the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Thursday released their weekly report that saw total jobless claims reach 3.2 million nationwide last week, bringing the total unemployment filings in the U.S. to over 33 million.

The new data outpaced analysts’ expectations of 3 million, with the new weekly nationwide total bringing the number of jobs lost during the coronavirus crisis in the last seven weeks to at least 33.5 million.

Last week’s number was down from the nearly 3.9 million initial claims filed the week ending April 25. The new totals mark a growing trend, with filings falling for five weeks in a row.

Today’s total comes one day before the release of the April jobs report, with many economists projecting the unemployment rate to skyrocket to around 16 percent. The 33 million Americans out of work represent close to 20 percent of the nation’s workforce.


The latest figure in the Sunshine State is also down, with Thursday’s total down 259,912 from the nation-leading total of 433,103 from the week prior.

Florida’s downtick in claims comes as many in the state continue to highlight the state’s unemployment filing system fiasco which has caused many in the state to point the finger at Governor Ron DeSantis and other Republican officials.

According to a scorecard released by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) on Tuesday, over 1.1 million unique claims have been filed in the state since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Of those filings, 769,843 claims have been processed (69 percent of total unique claims) with over $1 billion paid to claimants since the start of the outbreak.

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