More than 16,000 jobless claims filed last week

An estimated 16,212 unemployment applications were filed last week in Florida, as the state has averaged more than 18,000 weekly claims since early February. The U.S. Department of Labor’s estimate for the week that ended April 17 was down from a revised 24,402 claims the prior week. The revised number for the week that ended April 10 was the highest since the end of January, when 69,140 applications came in. Nationally, 547,000 new claims were filed last week, down 39,000 from the prior week.…