Florida's unemployment rises but is lowest uptick in 15 months

After months of shedding jobs at a breakneck pace, Florida's economy took a break from its freefall in March with unemployment inching up just slightly to 9.7 percent from a revised 9.6 percent a month earlier. It marks the smallest monthly increase in Florida's jobless rate in 15 months. Few are predicting that Florida is poised for recovery or even bottoming out just yet. But along with the easing of credit and rising bank profits, the job numbers released Friday were a welcome sign of moderation in a recession highlighted by extreme losses, especially on the job front, with the state losing more than 400,000 jobs the past 12 months.

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