New unemployment claims drop to lowest level of the pandemic

New unemployment claims in Florida have fallen to the lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but the figures mask the rampant unemployment that still plagues the state as tens of thousands of jobless workers await more help from the government.

Although fewer people are filing for the first time, many more remain out of work. And a spokeswoman for Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity offered no answers Thursday about how new federal money will be distributed to the unemployed.

The DEO spokeswoman said only that the agency is studying a memorandum from the U.S. Department of Labor, leaving thousands of unemployed workers uncertain about when help could arrive.

Most had received an extra $600 a week from the federal government until the end of July. After an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, the Labor Department has now set $300 a week as the new federal unemployment benefit for millions of jobless workers sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic. States have the option to tack on $100 more.

The payments would be on top of the normal weekly payout made by the states, which in Florida is a pretax benefit of $275 a week, among the nation’s lowest.

For countless households, the federal money is critical, particularly for those who were furloughed months ago only to see their jobs eliminated by cash-strapped employers.

“Unemployed persons who are looking for work now not only became unemployed in March and April, they actually lost their jobs,” said William Luther, an economics professor at Florida Atlantic University. “They don’t have jobs to return to.”

The Labor Department announced Thursday that new unemployment filings in Florida dipped to 55,106 for the week ended Aug. 8, a decline of 23,180 from the week before.

Florida has seen a slow rebound in medical and other professional services in recent weeks. Some economists said Thursday that the decline of new claims are a function of businesses gradually bringing people back from furloughs as consumers show a little more confidence in returning to stores and spending money they had tried to save after the pandemic hit.

“The good news is it doesn’t seem to be getting worse,” said Luther, the FAU economist. “It’s just a question now of how long it takes to get better. Around 22 million people lost their jobs in March and April — a third of those were furloughed.”

Since April, 9 million people have returned to work nationwide, the bulk of them furloughed workers.

Initial unemployment claims declined to 963,000 nationally last week, a decrease of 228,000 from the previous week of 1,191,000. New claims remain abnormally high, but they fell below the 1 million mark for the first time in 20 weeks.

“It is certainly welcome news to chalk up two straight weeks of declines in new claims, finally dropping below the 1 million level ending a devastating 20-week string,” said Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate. But the total number of people on unemployment assistance still stands at 28 million, dwarfing the decline in new claims.

As of Tuesday, Florida had paid 1,861,781 people more than $13.5 billion in benefits since mid-March, when the coronavirus pandemic derailed the economy. Roughly two-thirds of the money came from the $600 federal payment that the unemployed had received on top of their state benefits.

Under the federal government’s new Lost Wages Assistance program, $300 payments would be made to the unemployed beginning with weeks of unemployment ending on or after Aug. 1, through weeks of unemployment ending no later than Dec. 27.

States can provide a $100 match to bring the total to $400 by drawing from coronavirus relief money approved by Congress in March, the Labor Department said.

Meanwhile, owners of hotels, restaurants and airlines have announced in recent weeks that they are still eliminating more jobs as COVID-19 cases continue to grow.

Hilton, the worldwide hotel chain, said that due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by local governments, it is extending furloughs for more than 300 workers at locations in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, although all of the hotels will remain open. Most of those furloughs started in March.

Even a prominent South Florida auto dealer — Craig Zinn Automotive Group — disclosed a total of 88 permanent layoffs spread among Toyota, Lexus and Subaru dealerships it operates in Hollywood, North Miami and Pembroke Pines.