Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Florida’s unemployment claims more than triple
Florida’s surge in COVID-19 cases has suddenly thrust thousands more people out of work, with first-time unemployment claims more than tripling in a week — to the highest level in five months.
The stunning increase provides more evidence that businesses continue to struggle in Florida despite their relative freedom from government restrictions. It also highlights that consumers remain wary about venturing out as efforts to vaccinate the public falter.
New unemployment claims rose to 75,444 for the week ended Jan. 9, after consistently totaling around 25,000 a week during December and into the first week of 2021. The latest figures spiked by 50,747 claims from the week before.
The number of Floridians receiving jobless aid for at least two consecutive weeks rose from 129,575 to 155,097.
Nationally, the new claims figure soared to 965,000, an increase of 181,000 from the previous week’s revised level, which was adjusted for seasonal considerations.
“The rise and level of new unemployment claims is shocking, at the highest point seen since late August,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bank
rate. “This reminds us that the economic crisis has not gone away, far from it, at a time when multiple crises have been vying for our attention. It hasn’t helped that administration of COVID-19 vaccines has been slow to gather momentum since the pandemic is at the epicenter of the economy’s ills.”
One reason for the claims surge is that layoffs previously announced in the third and fourth quarters by hotels, restaurants and other hard-hit industries took effect at the end of December and in early January.
The Rosen Hotels and Resorts in the Orlando area, for example, had been hoping to avoid the layoffs of 202 people, according to a recent filing with the state by management. But business conditions failed to improve, leaving the decades-old hotel with little choice.
Florida on Thursday reported 217 more deaths from the coronavirus, the state’s highest single-day death count since mid-August. Nearly 24,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Florida since the pandemic began.
Despite the surge, Gov. Ron DeSantis has lifted most restrictions on businesses, insisting that shutting down the economy is not the way to battle the coronavirus. He has pointed to states like California where the pandemic is exploding despite strict COVID-19 rules.
Yet, more layoffs are on the way in Florida, according new filings for 2021. The Tampa Bay Times notified the state it plans to eliminate 160 printing press jobs in early March because it is closing its plant in St. Petersburg.
No fresh layoff or furlough notices have been filed so far for 2021 in South Florida.
A national claims surge
Other heavily populated states around the nation also experienced large increases for the week ended Jan. 9. California saw its claims rise by 20,587 to 181,576; New York’s rose by 15,559 to 72,476; and claims in Texas jumped by 14,282 to 60,271, according to figures reported Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.
According to a report released Monday by PNC Financial Services Group, the U.S. economy lost 140,000 jobs in December, and the unemployment rate held steady on the month at 6.7%.
Florida’s jobless rate for November, the latest month for which data is available, was 6.4%.
But the leisure and hospitality industry shed 498,000 jobs as the pandemic led to lower employment at restaurants, bars, amusement parks, casinos, and other congregate businesses.
Education employment also fell with a loss of 63,000 jobs in private education and 20,000 in state-government sponsored education such as state colleges and universities).
“Those losses were partially offset by job gains in other sectors, notably in retail, with jobs up 121,000 including a 59,000 increase in big box store jobs,” the report said. There were also smaller increases in construction, manufacturing and temp agency jobs.
Still, an estimate of private sector employment rosters by ADP, the payroll processing company, sent a negative signal for December, with employers cutting a net 123,000 jobs for the month.