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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida merger activity more than doubles over the year
Florida is once again a big deal — or at least a place for big deals. Dealmakers have closed on more than $29 billion in major mergers statewide so far this year. That's more than double the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) total of just under $14 billion from the first three quarters of 2012. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
End of shutdown doesn’t mean end to Florida economic uncertainty
The fog of uncertainty being fostered in Washington, D.C. — not just in the past two weeks but in the past year — is clearly depriving Florida of some of its financial momentum, economists said Thursday. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Release of Florida unemployment data delayed
The release of state and local unemployment data for September originally scheduled for Friday will be delayed, according to Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity. The data is compiled with the cooperation of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [Source: Fort Myers News-Press]
After rejecting Medicaid expansion, Florida may ask for more money
Months after Florida lawmakers rejected $51 billion from the federal government to expand Medicaid, state officials are prepared to request billions in new federal aid for a different program to improve care for the poor, uninsured and under-insured. But this cash grab, for whatever reason, has yet to ignite a political furor. [Source: Times/Herald]
Florida dismantling call boxes along interstates
Cellphones have rendered obsolete yet another piece of what was once cutting-edge communications technology. Interstate call boxes, the beacons of safety that dotted the shoulders of interstates and turnpikes across Florida, are in the process of being ripped out of the ground. [Source: TBO.com]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Blue-collar talent is too scarce, execs say
Against the backdrop of a documentary that shows the importance of buying American-made products to improve American communities, local manufacturing executives on Wednesday night described the challenges of running their businesses in Gainesville and the opportunities to grow the industry here.
› Small Social Security raises mean disappointment for Floridians
Retirees and the disabled should expect a raise of only about 1.5 percent next year in their Social Security benefits — a slight gain for Florida's 4.7 million recipients that likely will be eaten up by their rising cost of living.
› Fusion makes an early morning debut
South Florida’s newest national network received an extended on-air plug Thursday from Good Morning America. Fusion’s young morning hosts, who will debut on the cable network’s first day broadcasting on Monday, Oct. 28, joined their big-league counterparts outside the GMA studio for some promotional interviews.
› Photon-X, a 3D imaging company, moving to Osceola
Photon-X, a 3D imaging company, is moving its headquarters from Huntsville, Ala., to Osceola County, bringing more than 100 high-paying technical jobs to the area. Photon-X, which was founded in 1999, pledged to create 110 jobs paying an average of $62,000 a year — more than twice the county's average wage.
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