Unemployment claims in Florida declined last week

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in Florida fell last week compared to the previous week, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 5,618 in the week ending Feb. 14, from 5,800 the week before, the Labor Department said.

In the United States, the number of unemployment claims fell to 206,000 last week, a decrease of 23,000 from 229,000 the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Iowa saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping 15.4%. Virginia, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage decline in new claims, with a 42.5% drop.

USA TODAY Co. is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated using data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly unemployment claims report.

This article originally appeared in The Gainesville Sun: Jobless claims in Florida declined last week.