Florida unemployment claims skyrocket
April 2, 2020 - About 227,000 Floridians filed initial unemployment claims in the week ended March 28. That's more than triple the number of claims filed in the previous week, when 74,313 initial claims were filed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Nationally, initial claims doubled, to 6.6 million, the labor department said in a news release. Nearly every state providing comments to the labor department cited Covid-19 as the reason for the increase in claims. The services industries, led by accommodation and food services, were hardest hit, with other impacts in health care and social assistance, and manufacturing industries. An increasing number of states identified the retail and wholesale trade and construction industries, the labor department said.