State unemployment drops to 8 percent

Florida had mixed results on the job front in December, with its unemployment rate dipping slightly to 8 percent but the number of jobs statewide also dropped, according to state figures released this morning. The state lost 15,300 jobs over the month, down 0.2 percent. Over the past year, the job count is still up 54,900. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the AP.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Florida Trend web chat On Monday, Florida Trend held a live web chat on the subject of Charter Schools with Jonathan Hage, CEO of Charter Schools USA, one of the biggest charter school companies in the nation. . » Read the transcript » More about Jonathan Hage

What’s behind Cuba’s new travel policy?

As Cubans embraced their first week as potential global travelers, the rest of the world pondered Cuba’s motivation in enacting one of its most sweeping reforms to date and how it might affect travel throughout the region. [Source: Miami Herald]

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Florida looks to restructure its hurricane fund

Florida lawmakers are poised to consider restructuring the state-run property reinsurance facility by possibly lowering its mandatory annual capacity by billions due to concerns that one major storm could exhaust its resources and leave insurers without further coverage. [Source: Insurance Journal]

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» FRIDAY PREVIEW: Coming next week to FloridaTrend.com:

• Running on E: Laird Lile wants to make sure attorneys have no excuse for missing e-filing deadlines.
• Retail: A suburban renewal in Southeast Florida
• Venture Gains: Gainesville-based RegisterPatient, an online patient registration company founded in 2009, needed investors last year to fund a major growth spurt.

» You'll find all these stories first on the Daily and Afternoon Pulse e-mails.

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Out of the Box Helium Shortage For the time being, Erlene Schwamborn’s business is up in the air. It may not be for much longer. The owner of Funtastik Balloons in Jacksonville uses helium for many of her creations that decorate weddings and other local celebrations. But because of a shortage of the gas that makes balloons rise, her costs are rising, too. “Every time I go to change my helium tank I pay more,” Schwamborn said. She gets her gas from a supplier who can’t say how much longer the supply will last. » Full story from the Florida Times-Union