The holiday-shortened final week of 2023 resulted in a drop in first-time unemployment claims. The U.S. Department of Labor estimated 3,906 unemployment applications were filed in Florida last week, down from 5,489 during the week that ended Dec. 23.
The department also estimated 202,000 claims were filed nationally last week, which included Christmas, a decrease of 18,000 claims from the previous week.
During the past six weeks, Florida has averaged 5,249 new claims a week, below the weekly average of 5,771 since the start of 2023. The Florida Department of Commerce said Florida had a 2.9 percent unemployment rate in November, up from 2.8 percent in October.
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The November rate reflected 324,000 people out of work from a labor force of 11.19 million. Florida started 2023 with an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent. The national unemployment rate, which has been under 4 percent for 22 months, was 3.7 percent in November.
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