Wells Fargo: Inside the big jump in Florida’s jobless rate
April 18, 2020 - Layoffs in Florida's key leisure and hospitality sector spiked in March and were a key factor in the state's 4.3 percent March unemployment rate, a new report from Wells Fargo Securities said. The unemployment rate increased from 2.8 percent in February. Shutdowns and stay-at-home orders needed to contain the Covid-19 outbreak caused the leisure and hospitality sector to eliminate 38,600 jobs during March, as restaurants, bars and amusement parks closed and hotels reduced staff. More than 650,000 initial unemployment claims have been filed over the past four weeks in Florida, so unemployment is expect to rise again in April, Wells Fargo said. "While the number of job losses will be reminiscent of what was seen in the Great Recession, the composition will be substantially different. Housing is not overbuilt today in Florida or around country, although demand is certain to soften in the very near term. Construction payrolls, which plummeted 52 percent during the last recession, should fall only a fraction of that amount in the current downturn. Moreover, Florida has made considerable progress diversifying its economy into higher growth and less cyclical industries, including aerospace and technology," Wells Fargo said.