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Unemployment numbers are not expected to start falling significantly until the middle of 2010 when the economy improves. And even though this month’s numbers are statistically flat, thousands have exhausted their benefits. Rebecca Rust, the state’s chief labor economist, says the loss of benefits is part of the reason Florida is now second only to Nevada in the rate of foreclosures.

“We did see deterioration in the foreclosure rate over the month of August data,” Rust said. “We had some improvement last month and that did not continue for August. Foreclosures for August are 62, 401. This is up by just over 10 percent over the month and up by 42 percent over the year. These are among the highest since the series began.”

One in every 140 homes in Florida is now in foreclosure.