Florida jobless claims see post-holiday bump
TALLAHASSEE - First-time unemployment claims in Florida ticked up after the holidays, while the national total dipped slightly.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday said an estimated 7,110 jobless claims were filed in Florida during the week that ended January 7th, up from 4,238 during the week that ended December 31st and from 4,579 during the week that ended December 24th.
Last week's total was the highest since the week that ended November 5th, when 7,412 claims were filed.
Meanwhile, an estimated 205,000 claims were filed nationally last week, down 1,000 from the prior week.
The Department of Labor report was released as data showed that increases in consumer prices slowed for a third month.
The department last week said the national unemployment rate in December was 3.5 percent, a 53-year low. Florida had a 2.6 percent unemployment rate in November, representing 280,000 Floridians out-of-work from a labor force of 10.756 million. The state Department of Economic Opportunity will release a December rate and other data on January 20th.