Manatee unemployment rate jumps to 10.2 percent because of COVID-19
Manatee County had 18,390 COVID-19 related jobless assistance claims between March 15 and May 20, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
For several weeks, the DEO jobs dashboard, tp://floridajobs.org/, had been reporting 7,540 jobless claims.
The new report shows that 10.2 percent of Manatee County’s workforce of 179,993 was unemployed, compared to 4.2 percent on April 4.
Statewide, there were 1,336,393 COVID-19-related claims for assistance between March 15 and May 20, according to the dashboard..
Sarasota County had 21,826 claims, 11.5 percent of its workforce of 189,137, according to the updated state jobs dashboard.
Miami-Dade led the state in claims with 147,563, followed by Orange County with 128,393, Broward with 121,422, and Palm Beach with 79,629.
Hillsborough was next with 70,152 claims, followed by Pinellas with 54,711 claims.
Employers can post jobs while workers displaced by the coronavirus pandemic can search for them at jobfocus.com, a service hosted by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.
Jobs are also posted on CareerSource Suncoast and employflorida.com.
The state DEO dashboard advises:
▪ To comply with federal law, weeks beginning May 10, 2020, claimants will be required to return to the CONNECT system every two weeks to request their benefits or “claim their weeks.” In so doing, claimants will confirm that they are still unemployed and acknowledge that you are able and available for work.
▪ Applicants must claim their weeks in order to receive benefits. Claimants will be able to request a benefit payment for each week available.
▪ Gov. DeSantis has, however, directed DEO to waive the work search and work registration requirements for claimants through May 30, 2020. However, answers to work search questions are still required to process your claim in the CONNECT system but will not impact benefit payments. All new claimants should visit www.FloridaJobs.org to file a claim for Reemployment Assistance.
