Tuesday's Afternoon Update

Will Short Gorham | 7/17/2012

Florida's economy, unemployment face uphill battle

Florida's economy continues to face a number of challenges as it tries to rebound from the Great Recession, according to a report out today from the Florida Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research. The report found that while Florida's unemployment rate has dropped from 9.9 percent in December to 8.6 percent in May, most of the drop was due to people dropping out of the labor force. Nearly 70 percent of the decline in unemployment is due to people leaving the state's workforce. Read more from the Miami Herald and see the full report here.

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CEO Sounding Board How hard is it to recruit workers with sufficient skills? Lawrence Kahlden, CEO of La Familia Pawn and Jewelry tells us: With the current environment, employed people are reluctant to leave jobs because of the stability. There's still that hesitancy to leave that job you've been in for five or six years. » Read more from Kahlden and other Florida CEOs...

Local government hiring not helping Miami-Dade’s recovery

Weak hiring by local governments during the last two years has been more a problem for Miami-Dade than hiring by any other industry. Since the summer of 2010, Miami-Dade’s local governments -- including the school board -- have accounted for almost one out of every two jobs lost. The construction industry finished second with about 35 percent of the lost jobs. [Source: Miami Herald]

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Prime hotel site near Disney goes up for sale

Get your checkbooks ready: Ten-and-a-half acres all but surrounded by Walt Disney World are up for sale. The land is part of the Bonnet Creek Resort, a chunk of privately owned land bordered on three sides by the Walt Disney World resort. The parcel, which fronts Interstate 4 and is adjacent to the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, is on the market for $2.3 million. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

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AutoNation bus keeping staff on the road to health

AutoNation project manager Alfred Esau often felt lightheaded after eating lunch. He learned he had hypertension after getting his blood pressure tested at a company health event. "I have normal blood pressure now," said Esau, who was among workers Monday who booked appointments on AutoNation's "Know Your Numbers" bus at its corporate headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. The nation's largest auto retailer kicked off a company-wide health initiative to offer free screenings to measure employees' cholesterol levels, blood sugar, triglycerides and body mass index. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

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Pinellas County commissioners lean toward raising property taxes

Four of the seven County Commissioners in Pinellas said Tuesday that they would support some form of a property tax rate increase next year. Exactly what it would look like remains to be discussed — the board will meet Wednesday morning — but in interviews, a majority of the commissioners said adding 25 cents to the current rate was the only practical way to pay off the county's Medicaid bill, which it inherited from the state. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

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Ad Wars Photo: Joe Rimkus Jr. / Miami Herald Sign pollution vs. attracting customers A six-foot tall cigarette box made out of pipes and cardboard sits in the window of Cheap Smokes and Phones on Federal Highway in Hollywood. The $600 costume was meant to attract customers in need of half-price cigarettes. Instead, it sits lifeless in the store window, said Daniel Hearn, the business’ owner. That’s because it violates the city’s sign ordinance and he could be fined if a code enforcement officer catches him using it outdoors. Regulating signs is something cities across South Florida struggle with — too many can create sign pollution, but without them, businesses find it difficult to attract customers. » Full story from the Miami Herald.

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