State jobless claims tick up

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Florida last week had its largest number of first-time unemployment claims in two months. The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 6,510 initial claims were filed in Florida during the week that ended April 5, up from a revised count of 5,587 during the week that ended March 29. Last week’s number was the highest since 6,778 applications were filed during the week that ended Feb. 8. Florida has averaged 6,106 weekly claims since the start of the year. Nationally, an estimated 223,000 claims were filed last week, up from 219,000 during the week that ended March 29. Last week, the Department of Labor said the national unemployment rate in March was 4.2 percent, up from 4.1 percent in February. Florida had a 3.6 percent jobless rate in February. The state Department of Commerce will release March numbers on April 18.