March 19, 2024

Wednesday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 2/14/2018

Florida’s Irma property damage nears $8 billion

Claims for damage caused by Hurricane Irma in Florida have grown to nearly $8 billion. More than 900,200 property owners have filed claims for insured losses from Irma, which slammed Florida five months ago, according to a new report from the state Office of Insurance Regulation. See the full report here - includes statistics by county. Also read more at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Why doesn't Florida's Legislature look anything like Florida's workforce?

If you’re a lawmaker in Tallahassee, you’re likely one of the state’s elite. You’re 147 times more likely to be a chief executive than the average Floridian and 37 times more likely to be a lawyer. You don’t work a clerical office job that one in every six employed Floridians do. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Related quick poll:
» Have you ever thought about running for political office?

Central Florida's fern industry struggles to meet Valentine's Day demand

Many of the ferns sold with roses are grown in Central Florida, but January’s cold weather put a dent on the region's multimillion dollar fern industry. February is one of the busiest times of year for workers in the industry. [Source: WFTV]

Late mortgage payments rise after hurricane season takes toll on homeowners

The 2017 storm season spurred a mass evacuation but dealt just a glancing blow to South Florida’s real estate market. However, hurricanes blew up many mortgage borrowers’ histories of prompt payment, CoreLogic said Tuesday.

“The effects of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria appear clearly in our mortgage delinquency report,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Serious delinquency rates are up sharply in Texas and Florida compared with a year ago, while lower in all other states except Alaska."

More information here, or read more at the Palm Beach Post.

Florida’s secondhand bookstores do things differently to stay afloat

Of the seven secondhand bookstores standing in Miami-Dade and Broward in 2015, only four remain in business today, but their owners maintain a reserved optimism for the future. In an age of rapidly advancing technology, in which many readers purchase books online, bookstores are gradually disappearing. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Stay competitive with tools and resources from Veterans Florida
Every business has a need for a talented workforce and today’s veterans are a great fit for any company looking for hard-working, intelligent men and women with a unique mission-focused attitude. Veterans Florida can help your business recruit, hire and train America’s best talent resource, our veterans. [Sponsored report]

› More middle and upper Keys lodging reopening
With Pelican Cove due to reopen on Friday, Feb. 16, and Cheeca Lodge & Spa opening on Mar. 30, the number of lodging and hotel rooms available in Islamorada will reach the halfway mark of its pre-storm figures.

› The Marketing of a Town – How Gainesville is positioned on the global stage
Transforming Greater Gainesville strategic goals include closing on 50 projects by 2020 yielding over 3,500 new jobs in the following five targeted industry clusters: advanced logistics, advanced materials, agricultural life sciences, human life sciences, and software/IT.

› Cook, server, lawyer are among jobs paying above national average in Orlando
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report on the Orlando economy Monday that said waiter is one of few job types in Orlando that pays above the national average, along with cooks and fast food workers.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

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