FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida’s unemployment rate reached a record high in April of almost 13%, tripling in one month as the economic slowdown from the coronavirus pandemic took hold, as some of the state's largest employers such as Walt Disney World and Universal Studios shed workers, data released Friday shows.
Florida’s unemployment rate skyrocketed to 12.9% in April from 4.3% in March and from 2.8% in February, before the pandemic caused a state and nationwide closure of many businesses.
About 1.3 million Floridians had lost their jobs out of a workforce of 10 million when this survey for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was conducted in mid-April, a number that has continued to climb into May.