March 18, 2024

Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 4/20/2018

Florida unemployment at 3.9 percent for sixth straight month

Florida continues to coast with relatively low unemployment and modest job gains. In March, for the sixth straight month, the state’s jobless rate was 3.9 percent. Florida added 13,800 jobs over the month. There were 400,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 10,193,000. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in March. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

See also:
» Full jobs numbers for March 2018 from Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity

Orlando hotels mark robust March with 89.2 occupancy rate

The occupancy rate for Orlando hotels was 89.2 percent in March, the highest level in at least six years, according to data from STR, which tracks the hospitality industry More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Air Force: 'Future is very bright' for Cape Canaveral launches

Air Force officials are confident that the Space Coast will be home to a bright future thanks to its role as one of the most active spaceports in world. “The future is really bright – extremely bright,” Gen. John Raymond, commander of Air Force Space Command, said at the 34th Space Symposium. More from Florida Today.

Harris Corporation hosts virtual sailing battle between Florida and New Jersey, as students hone STEM skills

A group of Florida high school students beat a New Jersey group in a virtual sailing competition at Harris Corporation headquarters on the Space Coast. Eighteen teams from a total of six high schools in the two states competed in a challenge that asked students to create programs that would sail virtual sailboats through obstacle courses. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Opinion: Gambling with taxpayer money and losing -- Florida's business incentives program

The state of Florida has spent $3.6 billion of taxpayer money in a 16-year gamble to urge businesses to relocate to or expand in the state. But has it worked? Incentive programs fail because they do not account for the fact that the firms are highly volatile and prone to failure. More from the Business Observer.

Sports Business
Tennis star threatens to boycott Miami Open

 World No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki, a part-time Fisher Island resident who recently had the courts there named after her, said she may boycott the Miami Open tennis tournament in 2019 to protest what she felt was an inadequate response by tournament officials to her complaint of verbal taunts by fans directed at her family in the stands last month.

» More from the Miami Herald.

 

Out of the Box
Unique vacation rentals in Florida include tree houses, hangars, huts and yurts

floridaWhether you’re a Floridian in search of a more adventurous kind of staycation, or a tourist looking to skip the theme parks and resorts in favor of tiny houses or shipping containers, the Internet offers plenty of weird and wonderful options in the Sunshine State.

» Read more from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Tags: Daily Pulse, Afternoon Pulse

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