Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 5/17/2013

Florida posts lowest jobless rate since 2008

Florida's unemployment rate fell to 7.2 percent in April, the lowest since 2008. The rate dropped from 7.5 percent in March and 8.9 percent from last year at this time, according to data released this morning. The state added 17,000 jobs from March to April, and 119,000 jobs from April 2012. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Tube Dudes

With help from his shop foreman, and using scrap aluminum tubes, Scott Gerber built a stick man. It was about 6 feet and had a “big smiley face.” He brought it home. A neighbor liked it and asked him to build her one to hold a mailbox. He did — and realized he had the seed of a business.

» Tube dudes

Zillow: South Florida homebuyers break even in 2 years

Buying a home in South Florida is more affordable than renting after only two years, according to Zillow.com. A first-quarter study by the real estate website showed that Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties tied with Detroit for the nation's shortest break-even point, beyond which buying becomes cheaper than renting. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Massive new convention center and hotel in the works for downtown Miami

A big player in downtown Miami development has solidified plans to build a major, privately financed convention center topped by a massive, 1,800-room hotel — the largest in South Florida — on the site of the demolished Miami Arena. [Source: Miami Herald]

» FRIDAY PREVIEW: Coming next week to FloridaTrend.com:

Space Coast Jobs: Pain Relief: Northrop Grumman is expanding in Melbourne.
Tourism: Few subjects touch a nerve in Key West quite like cruise ships.
Business Profile: Guide's app delivers news in a unique way.

» You'll find all these stories first on the Daily and Afternoon Pulse e-mails.

Out of the Box
Dueling Mayors

A couple of South Florida city leaders fighting wouldn’t be unusual, but two Northwest Miami-Dade mayors are taking it to a new extreme — with a real “mixed martial arts” match in front of an audience. Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez and Michael Pizzi, mayor of neighboring Miami Lakes, say they will take to the ring, or in this case an octagon, this summer. They say it’s all for charity, but that doesn’t stop them from trash-talking.