Florida jobless claims rise at slower rate; U.S. total passes 40 million

Florida had 173,731 new unemployment claims last week — trailing only New York and California.

However, the new figure represented a decline of 23% from the previous week, showing the number of newly unemployed in the state might be tailing off.

The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday that 2.1 million claims were filed throughout the U.S. for the week ending May 23, a decline of 323,000. Most states saw declines in that week.

Still, more than 40 million jobless claims, representing about one in four American workers, have now been filed since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Labor Department also reported an initial estimate of Florida’s unemployment rate of 25% for the week ending May 9. That was third-highest among all states, trailing only Washington and Nevada.

Last week, the state announced its official unemployment rate for April as 12.9%. Unemployment now tops 10% across South Florida, with Monroe County leading the way at 17.5%.

According to the state’s official unemployment dashboard, 1.9 million unique claims have been received. That would represent 21.6% of the state’s workforce. The state has paid out about $3.5 billion in unemployment claims, including $955 million in state funds.

The state has also begun paying workers, like independent contractors, who do not qualify for regular unemployment; funds for this group have been allocated under the federal CARES Act. More than 90,000 filers among this group have been paid.

The state is being sued by unemployed Floridians who are asking a judge to demand the state pay out claims faster.