Tuesday's Afternoon Update

Will Short Gorham | 4/10/2012

Uptick in temp jobs a good indicator of hiring rebound

Temporary staffing agencies that didn’t fold or flee Florida during the Great Recession are seeing a modest uptick overall in employer demand for workers. “Health care has been the steady Eddie sector. But we’re seeing demand start to come back in construction and real estate,” said Jamie Conley, Fort Myers-based regional vice president for Robert Half International. Temporary staffing executives also say that employer expectations have risen since the economic downturn. [Source: Fort Myers News-Press]

---

Investment Sounding Board Where are you advising clients to invest while still remaining cautious? Ted E. Furniss, Managing director/senior investment adviser for Florida Wilmington Trust says: "Clients are extremely cautious, even though interest rates effectively are at zero. You're really not getting anything on money-market accounts, and when you back out inflation and taxes on the yields on the average 10-year Treasury bond, you're essentially paying the government." » Read more from Furniss and others.

Obama in Florida pressing for 'Buffett rule'

Picking an election-year fight with Republicans, President Barack Obama is urging Congress to boost taxes on millionaires, traveling to Florida to make a populist pitch on an issue that draws a sharp contrast with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Obama is outlining his support for the so-called “Buffett rule” in Boca Raton, arguing that wealthy investors should not pay taxes at a lower rate than middle-class wage earners. [Source: AP]

Related:
» Republican leaders slam Obama and president's South Florida visit

---

Palm Beach County animal control goes after unpaid IOUs

Animal-control officials are tired of taking IOUs from pet owners who never pay up. On Friday, Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control launched an IOU system that will send collection agencies after people who break their promise to pay back boarding costs and other fees for their impounded dogs and cats. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

---

Governor Scott extends bill for bulk condos

Florida Gov. Rick Scott last week approved a three-year extension of a bill that limits the liability for people who buy condominiums in bulk. The bill has boosted sales of distressed condos, helping the housing market recover, proponents say. The bill went into effect July 1, 2010, and Scott has extended it to 2015. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

---

Medtronic starts expansion on Jacksonville's Southside

Medtronic broke ground Monday on a $14 million expansion of its Jacksonville office on the Southside. The 75,000-square-foot addition will be finished in 2015. Medtronic also will add 175 jobs to its 600-employee Jacksonville workforce by the end of 2015. The expansion will house space for research and development, laboratory work and marking and customer training. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

---

Out of the Box Real Life Love Boat Norwegian Cruise Line finds itself back in the reality show spotlight Tuesday with the premier of the dating show Love for Sail. The one-hour show debuts at 10 p.m. on Lifetime. Spokeswoman AnneMarie Mathews said the cruise company — the industry’s third largest after Carnival and Royal Caribbean — believes from the promotion material executives have seen that the brand and cruising will be portrayed positively. “Our CEO Kevin Sheehan has really pushed the organization to be smart in this regard as this is subtle advertising that costs less than paid advertising and helps us make up for our size,” Mathews said. » More from the Miami Herald and Lifetime.

---