Unemployment Was At A Record Low In Florida. Then COVID-19 Hit.

March 30, 2020

Florida’s unemployment rate was at a record low in February, prior to the start COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.

Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.8 percent in February 2020, unchanged from January 2020, and down 0.6 percentage point from a year ago. Florida’s unemployment rate tied the record low of 2.8 percent

February’s unemployment rate was 3.2% in Escambia County, down from 3.4% a year ago.

But those numbers, just released Friday, reflect on February numbers, not the soaring number of applicants after COVID-19 business shutdowns.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported 130,000 calls about unemployment benefits in just four days last week. They normally receive about 28,000 in a month. Complaints have been rampant about a state unemployment website that crashes.

Complete Florida unemployment data for March won’t be available until April.

Editor’s note: This data is for February and was just released Friday by the state. It does not reflect the soaring unemployment after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Comments

2 Responses to “Unemployment Was At A Record Low In Florida. Then COVID-19 Hit.”

  1. David on April 1st, 2020 5:06 pm

    Hopefully the shift to allow ‘work from home’ will stick after we get past this pandemic. Work from home allows more opportunities for people with disabilities to work.

  2. JTV on March 30th, 2020 6:17 pm

    Democrats will say otherwise. Don’t believe them.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News