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Friday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida unemployment rate falls to 8.5 percent
Florida's unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in October, reaching the lowest point in nearly four years, the state's Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday morning. The state added 14,700 jobs over the month while the number of unemployed Floridians fell by 20,000, knocking the total number of jobless below 800,000. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the Department of Economic Opportunity.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Students at Stetson University's new law institute battle on behalf of veterans and active-duty personnel. Apart from giving law students practical experience, the institute also takes on varied roles in serving both veterans and active-duty military personnel. |
Workers endure declining wages
The nation’s high unemployment rate captures the headlines with each monthly jobs report, yet many Americans may be surprised to learn that real earnings, when adjusted for inflation, have declined across most industries and sectors since the Great Recession. Since 2002, in fact, it has effectively been a lost decade for workers. [Source: McClatchy]
5 tax planning tips for year-end
Year-end planning is a bigger challenge this year than in past years. Unless Congress acts quickly, tax rates will increase next year and many more individuals will be affected by the alternative minimum tax (AMT), various deductions and other unavailable tax breaks. As a result of expiring Bush-era tax cuts, individuals are expected to face higher tax rates on their income next year, including capital gains, dividends, and estate tax. [Source: Gainesville Business Report]
» FRIDAY PREVIEW: Coming next week to FloridaTrend.com:
- Osceola County and Kissimmee Business Portrait: Pioneers were drawn to Osceola County centuries ago for good reasons -- lots of flat land and fresh water. Those same resources still support the county today.
- Familiar Field: Stetson University in DeLand is preparing to take to the football field again after a more than 50-year hiatus.
- Incubating Ideas: Seven years ago while they were still in their 20s, Chad Kittrell, a bank executive at the time, and J.T. Burnette, an entrepreneur, founded private equity firm Hunter & Harp in Tallahassee.
- Business Profile: Over the past dozen years, Jacksonville-based Ice House America has built a network of 2,400 self-service ice machines in 27 states.
» You'll find all these stories first on the Daily and Afternoon Pulse e-mails.
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