New Florida weekly unemployment claims spike in first full week of 2021

New weekly unemployment claims spiked in the first full week of 2021. A total of 75,444 new claims were reported for the week that ended Jan. 9, up 205.48% from 24,697 in the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The state's highest total in a single week so far was for the week ended April 18 in 2020, with 506,670 new claims. Florida rose from 15th worst to third-worst in the U.S. for claims during the week, trailing only California (181,576) and Illinois (96,667). Future eligibility…