Florida's new unemployment rate is on hold

The snowstorms of 2010 are certainly taking a toll on the jobs front.

First, the nasty weather was blamed for an unexpected rise in jobless claims nationally. Now it's the culprit pushing back the release of Florida's much-watched, monthly unemployment report.

The January statistics for Florida were supposed to come out March 5, but on Thursday that was shoved back to March 10.

"Due to the federal government shutdown caused by recent winter storms, the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics has required extra processing time," explained the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, which oversees the state's unemployment program.

Floridians have been waiting for the update a while. There already was going to be a six-week lag between monthly reports because the state reconciles its annual numbers at the beginning of every year, extending the process.

At last count, Florida's unemployment rate stood at 11.8 percent, just one notch shy of the all-time record high of 11.9 percent set 35 years ago.