Thursday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 11/3/2016

Population growth helping state economy recover

Florida’s unemployment rate and job growth are outpacing their national counterparts, while the U.S. economy continues to recover at a faster clip than the rest of the world. One factor was the state’s growth in population, which currently exceeds 20 million people. More from the Lakeland Ledger.

Tampa and Cuba, once Cold War enemies, now work together to save the ocean

The Florida Aquarium made history last year when it announced it was partnering with the National Aquarium of Cuba on coral research. Since the 1970s, half of the coral cover in Florida and Caribbean waters has died, says a study by the International Coral Reef Initiative. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Miami International Airport to be foreign trade zone magnet

County commissioners on Tuesday approved an application to the US Department of Commerce that would designate Miami International Airport as a Foreign Trade Zone magnet site. More from Miami Today.

Optimism floats as 57th Fort Lauderdale boat show opens Thursday

The 57th Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show runs Nov. 3-7 at seven sites across the city, showcasing its global prowess as the largest in-water boat show on the planet. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Florida's Space Coast sees tourism surge

Marketing efforts have really payed off as Florida’s Space Coast has been attracting tourists in record numbers this year with an ever-widening array of activities for that target families. More from Travel Pulse.

Business Profile
Solodev

Partially because of the aftermath of the June 12 Pulse shootings that left 49 people dead in Orlando, website traffic for the blood donation group OneBlood more than tripled from May to June. But thanks to an infrastructure built by Orlando tech company Solodev, the headlines were about blood drives to support shooting victims and not about a crashing website.

» More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Out of the Box
Cubicco

Dutch company Cubicco has created a flat-pack, modular, prefabricated, hurricane-proof home that can be built for less than $200,000. And it could soon come to Florida.