Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Jobless claims lowest since pandemic began
The number of Floridians filing for unemployment benefits has plunged to the lowest level since the pandemic began, as more people get vaccinated against COVID19 and employers gain the confidence to hire.
The state’s first-time claims for the week ended March 20 plunged to 13,892, a decline of 6,448 from the previous week. the Labor Department said Thursday.
Nationwide, first-time claims totaled 684,000, a decrease of 97,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 781,000, the department said.
A number of other states with large populations saw significant declines. They include California, Illinois, New York and Ohio.
“For the first time since the pandemic began, new claims for jobless benefits have dropped below the 700,000 level,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.
“This is likely a sign of even better things to come for the nation’s battered economy and the millions of individuals who are jobless, underemployed or have left the workforce but would like to work,” he said. “More substantial improvement
could be seen as soon as the forthcoming release of the March employment data, with a pickup in hiring amid the reopening of the economy and more people being vaccinated.”
Still, up to 19 million people nationwide are collecting some form of unemployment benefits, he said.
But both the state and national job markets are showing signs of improvement as local and state governments become more lenient about allowing commercial activity that involves person-to-person contact. In turn, critical industries such as Florida’s hospitality and leisure business are moving toward rehiring furloughed workers.
Many workers, however, have given up on the sector by seeking employment elsewhere or dropping out of the workforce altogether. That has left many South Florida hotels and restaurants straining to hire workers, industry officials have said.
The state Department of Economic Opportunity is scheduled to report February’s unemployment rate on Friday.
In an economic report earlier this month, PNC Bank noted that the Biden administration’s massive $1.9 trillion relief package justifies an upgrade of its forecast for U.S. real Gross Domestic Product growth for this year to 5.2% from 3.4% . The change accounts for the “impact of additional aid to most households, state and local governments, and the health system.”
“The accelerating rollout of vaccines is also extremely good news for the recovery: High-contact sectors of the economy will be able to return to normal later this year at the same time that stimulus is boosting household spending power,” the report said. “The faster the U.S. and world progress toward herd immunity, the better the outlook for the economy.”