Florida weekly unemployment soars to record high as just 15.9% of claims are paid

Florida hit another benchmark when it comes to unemployment claims filed due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The state had more than 505,137 first-time claims for the week ending April 18, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That's up from the previous week's revised total of 180,419. Claims made during that week broke the previous record for the state. Florida had a revised total of 228,484 claims for the week ending March 28, which originally was the record holder. The…