Layoffs ease in Florida

Unemployment claims fall 23%, but some struggling industries prepare for more cuts

Florida’s unemployment claims declined to 173,731 for the week ended May 23 in a sign that the pace of layoffs is easing as the state struggles to reopen its economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

Claims filed by newly laid off and furloughed workers dropped by 51,673 from 225,404 in the week ended May 16. Nationally, the number of claims also fell to 2.1 million, a decline of 323,000 from the previous week, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

But the total of U.S. claims filed since the virus started to slam the economy in mid-March now stands at 40 million. And the month of May still appears destined to mirror the job declines in April, when unemployment rates were higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate for April reached 14.7%, with Florida not far behind at 12.9%, having jumped from 4.4% in March.

Despite the decline in jobless claims, beaten-up industries such as the airlines are preparing for massive layoffs. On Wednesday, American Airlines told its employees that it plans to cut 30% of its management and support staff in a bid to cut 5,000 jobs, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The airline, which for years has operated a large Latin American and Caribbean hub in Miami, has also started offering buyouts to em

ployees and said it plans to offer new voluntary leave and buyouts to staffers such as flight attendants next month.

The state’s Department of Economic Opportunity, which has been snowed under by more than 2.1 million unemployment claims since March 15, says many of those claims are duplicates, triplicates or a combination of the same person filing both online and paper applications.

According to a statistical dashboard on the agency’s website, the state says it has “verified” slightly more than 1.6 million claims for determination of a person’s eligibility for benefits. As of Tuesday, the numbers show 1,070,696 eligible claims processed and nearly $3.5 billion in payments to 1,011,298 people.

But the agency defines those who have been paid as people who received at least one payment from state or federal funds.

There are no figures showing how many of the people eligible for benefits have received all of the payments to which they are entitled.

In a statement, the agency announced that it has developed a way for people to regain access to their accounts after getting locked out of the agency’s CONNECT system, which is supposed to process initial claims. It is a problem that has plagued the unemployed for weeks.

The agency said that in conjunction with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, it launched a new website to verify the identity of people who could not access their accounts. The DEO said people who got locked out “have been notified and provided a direct link to verify their information so they can access their account and have their Reemployment Assistance claims processed.”

The statement provided no additional details.