Thursday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 10/4/2012

Foreclosure inventory spikes in Florida

Foreclosure inventory across the U.S. is declining according to CoreLogic's latest foreclosure report. 1.3 millions or 3.2 percent of all homes with a mortgage were in foreclosure in August 2012, compared with 1.4 million, or 3.4 percent a year ago. But foreclosure inventory in Florida skyrocketed. Read more from Business Insider and see the report from CoreLogic.

End of tomato pact with Mexico could expand trade tiff

Mexico and the United States are gearing for a costly showdown over fresh tomatoes — a $3.5-billion business for the two countries — in a move that could boost the fortunes of some American tomato farmers but raise prices for U.S. consumers. Read more from KTAR, the Los Angeles Times and Fruit Net.

Florida ranks No. 7 for increase in hospitality jobs

Business Profile

Youfit

For a health club, the major operating costs are personnel to run child care and group classes and sell memberships. In 2008, Rick Berks, founder of Planet Fitness, settled on a new model he called Youfit.

His plan: Eliminate aerobics and spinning, child care and sales, along with swimming pools and ball courts, and instead offer what most people actually use — cardio equipment and weight machines.

» Full profile...

» Official Youfit site

Florida ranks No. 7 for its increase in leisure and hospitality jobs, and the good news is employment in the industry is on the rise. The Sunshine State had 968,700 hospitality jobs as of August 2012, up 13,900 from 954,800 jobs in August 2011. More at the South Florida Business Journal.

Trump won't open Miami film complex

It was the stuff of fantasy: a vast film and entertainment complex supported by the Trump Organization, rising on 790 county-owned acres near Homestead Air Reserve Base in far southern Miami-Dade County. But encumbrances on the land, coupled with environmental concerns, probably have killed the deal. More at Miami Today.

Florida Gov. Scott tries ways to save oyster industry

Florida’s oyster industry appears near collapse and needs help to survive, including getting more fresh water into Apalachicola Bay from Georgia, Gov. Rick Scott says. Scott said the crisis affecting the Gulf Coast shows that federal officials need to adjust how much water is flowing downstream, a dispute that has triggered years of lawsuits among Florida, Georgia and Alabama. More at the AP and see also: Oyster struggles could cost town half of its jobs

Out of the Box
The next thing: Blow dry bars

Depending on who you are, $35 and an hour may seem an exorbitant or a minimal price to pay for temporarily perfect hair. That's pretty much what you give to get your hair washed, dried and styled at a blow dry bar, a new kind of salon that is slowly migrating into Florida. At these salons, there are no permanent hair changes on the menu. Stylists use only styling products, blow dryers, flat irons and curling irons to provide a temporary but professional-quality hairstyle. Full story from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and see Fort Lauderdale-based Just Air's Facebook page.