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Florida jobless claims up slightly
Unemployment claims inched up for the second consecutive week in Florida, but the pace remains little changed over the past few months.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday released a report that estimated 6,158 claims were filed in Florida during the week that ended Feb. 4, up from a revised count of 5,866 during the week that ended Jan. 28 and from 5,557 during the week that ended Jan. 21.
Since the start of November, after a brief spike caused by Hurricane Ian, the state has averaged 5,970 new claims a week.
Nationally, first-time claims went up by 13,000 to 196,000 last week, the first increase in six weeks.
The Walt Disney Co., a huge employer in Central Florida, announced Wednesday that it will cut 3 percent of its workforce, or about 7,000 jobs globally, as it looks to save about $5.5 billion.
The entertainment giant did not announce where the layoffs will occur. Florida had a 2.5 percent unemployment rate in December, reflecting an estimated 271,000 people qualified as unemployed from a workforce of 10.76 million.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity will release its next unemployment report on March 13.
