7,540 have filed claims for unemployment assistance in Manatee County during the past 5 weeks
There were 7,540 jobless claims in Manatee County in the past five weeks, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s new jobs dashboard at http://floridajobs.org/.
The dashboard shows that 4.2 percent of Manatee County’s workforce of 179,993 is unemployed. In Sarasota County, 9,281 persons were reported unemployed, 4.9 percent of a workforce of 189,137.
Monroe County (Key West) had Florida’s highest unemployment rate, 8.4 percent, followed by Osceola County with 8.1 percent.
Hardest hit in Florida are those working in accommodations and food service with 115,313 unemployed, according to the dashboard.
The state has come under heavy criticism for the failure of its unemployment assistance system in the face of a workforce devastated by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Economic Opportunity has hired more staff members and revamped its webpage, where assistance claims are filed.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that 505,137 Floridians filed unemployment assistance claims in the week ending April 18. Nationwide, there were 4,267,395 claims for the week ending April 18.
Jen Zak, communications director for CareerSource Suncoast, which seeks to match job seekers with employers, said her office remains busy during the pandemic and economic crisis.
“We’re still receiving around 400 calls a day from people looking for help. Luckily some of our staff has access to check claim status, which at this point a lot of people are looking for. The dashboard has been helpful in showing people that claims are being paid every day, so there’s been more of a sense of hope that their claims will be paid so, too,” Zak said.
