As the busy holiday season gets further in the rearview mirror, new jobless claims in Florida are spiking significantly.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports there were 6,827 unemployment filings in the Sunshine State for the week ending Jan. 10. That’s up substantially from the previous week’s figure of 4,205, a jump of 2,622 claims.
The latest report is the biggest increase in Florida in months. It’s also the first time there have been more than 6,000 claims since well before the holiday hiring rush, as stores prepared for the shopping season.
Florida’s increase in claims reflected the national picture. There were 330,684 new filings across the country last week. That’s a 10.7% jump from the previous week’s number.
But the national figure didn’t increase as much as DOL analysts expected. Economists projected an increase of 45,652 claims, or a 15.3% climb.
While the national numbers rose week to week, new claims are down from the same time last year. During the comparable week in 2025, there were 353,357 claims. The most recent report is a drop of 22,673 claims from a year ago.
Unemployment filings typically increase following the holidays as businesses no longer have an increased need for workers. But the news is still unwelcome for Florida, which saw steady declines in new jobless filings in the months leading up to the holidays.
FloridaCommerce, the state’s economic development bureau, reports the November general unemployment rate was 4.2%. That’s a jump of 0.3 percentage points over the September figure of 3.9%. The bureau didn’t have figures for October due to the federal government shutdown, which prevented employment data collection.
The December report is expected to be issued by the end of this month.
