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.