Florida unemployment

It now stands at 6.1%, below the national rate of 6.7%.

The state’s jobs agency had not posted a timetable about extended unemployment benefits, and no formal announcement had been made about whether Floridians will be covered for the current week because of when the $900 billion federal package was signed.

The state Department of Economic Opportunity on Friday posted a 6.4 percent jobless rate for November, equal to a revised jobless mark for October. The unemployment rate in November 2019, before the pandemic hammered the economy, was 2.8 percent.

Some states carved out single-day poll workers from being denied unemployment benefits. Florida did not.

Lawmakers in Congress are debating a second COVID-19 relief bill, and with that, more funds for the Paycheck Protection Program. In Florida, small businesses have exhausted money from the program and are waiting for more aid.

One state senator says DeSantis is manipulating data and "does not have this virus under control and has no interest in doing so."

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the federal government "caused" the problems that led to Florida's high unemployment.

The estimate marked the sixth consecutive week of declines in new unemployment claims in Florida and the lowest weekly total since early March.

The unemployment rate of 6.5% in October is down from a revised 7.2% in September.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimated Thursday that 35,960 initial unemployment claims were filed in Florida during the week that ended Oct. 17, down from 47,904 the prior week and 42,306 during the week that ended Oct. 3.

Meanwhile, the nationwide numbers declined by 9,000.

The “Get There” initiative launched by the Department of Education is designed to raise awareness about Career and Technical Education as an alternative to traditional college pathways.