Initial unemployment claims in Florida fell slightly for the week ending May 23.

There were 5,805 new filings in the state, according to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) figures. That’s a decrease of 419 from the previous week, when there were 6,224 claims.

It’s the first week that the number of new filings has fallen below 6,000 in about a month.

That spike occurred in part due to Spirit Airlines shutting down operations on May 2. The commercial carrier had several hubs at Florida airports, and workers there all abruptly lost their jobs when the business closed. Spirit officials said they ceased operations because they could not keep pace with skyrocketing fuel prices due to the war with Iran.

There were at least 4,800 Spirit employees in the Sunshine State whose job losses contributed to a huge jump in new claims for the week ending May 9. That week, the DOL reported that initial filings spiked to 8,164, with seasonal adjustments. That was the highest number for any week this year and represented an increase of more than 2,000 claims.

But since then, figures have started to stabilize in Florida. The latest DOL report represents the second straight week of falling claims.

The drop in Florida claims cut against the national trend. There was an increase in new claims across the country, up to 191,134. That’s a jump of 4,796, or a 2.6% increase from the previous week.

DOL analysts had projected there would be a modest drop of 210 claims. The latest national number was a decrease, though, in the year-over-year comparison. There were 210,160 filings for the comparable week in 2025.

As Florida’s first-time claims fluctuate, the state’s general unemployment rate has been on the increase. Every month this year has seen an increase in the figure published by FloridaCommerce, the state’s economic development bureau.

The April unemployment rate published last week came in at 4.8%. That’s up from the March figure of 4.7%. April was the fourth month in a row that Florida’s rate has gone up. It was also higher than the national unemployment rate of 4.3% in April.