Florida Jobless Claims Down

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Florida last week had its lowest number of first-time unemployment claims since the period around the Presidents’ Day holiday. The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated that 5,095 claims were filed in Florida during the week that ended Aug. 3, down from a revised count of 5,472 claims during the week that ended July 27 and 7,059 during the week that ended July 20. Before the past two weeks, totals had been above 6,200 since early May. Last week’s number was the lowest since the week that ended Feb. 24, when 5,016 claims were filed in a week shortened by the Presidents’ Day holiday. Nationally, an estimated 233,000 claims were filed last week, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week. The national unemployment rate in July was 4.3 percent, up from 4.1 percent in June. The state Department of Commerce will release a July unemployment rate for Florida on Aug. 16. Florida had a 3.3 percent rate in April, May and June.