Florida new jobless claims rise in first week of November

The first week of November brought an increase in first-time unemployment claims in Florida. There were 5,047 new jobless filings for the week ending Nov. 7, according to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) data. That’s up by 571 initial claims from the week ending Oct. 31, when there were 4,476 after DOL adjustments. It’s the biggest increase in new claims since events surrounding Hurricane Isaias that hit Florida late Oct. 9. Initial jobless filings jumped that week due to businesses closing ahead of the Category 2 storm making landfall in the Panhandle. Businesses also struggled to reopen after the hurricane during recovery efforts. The latest week is also one of the few that has shown an increase in recent months. Summer and Fall new claims for Florida have seen a majority of reports with declining filings. The latest Florida figures reflect the national trend of new unemployment filings last week. There were 206,982 claims for the week ending Nov. 7. That’s an increase of 28,870 or a 1