Private employers in Florida add 27,600 jobs

Florida’s unemployment rate held steady in July at 7.1 percent as the state economy added 27,600 jobs, the Department of Economic Opportunity reported this morning. While the national rate dropped slightly in July to 7.4 percent, the state continues to beat the national average for the fifth month in a row. The state’s recovery lagged that of the rest of the nation until March of this year. More at the Palm Beach Post and the Miami Herald.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Crime and Punishment At the Second Chances Farm at Lowell Correctional Institute near Ocala, female inmates are trained to care for retired thoroughbred horses. The inmates earn a vocational certificate in equine care technology. » Second Chances Farm at Lowell Correctional Institute

Florida to evaluate 1% workers comp rate increase

Florida employers would see a 1% workers compensation rate increase beginning Jan. 1 under a new rate filing from the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation announced the filing on Friday and said it will conduct a public hearing in early October. [Source: Business Insurance]

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Florida pain victims feel prescription drug crackdown

Regulators clamped down on Florida’s lax prescription controls to halt an epidemic of painkiller abuse that kills more people nationwide than heroin and cocaine combined. Drug distributors and pharmacies hemmed in by new regulations are limiting the pain medicines they keep on hand and who gets them [Source: Businessweek]

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

• An employee edge at CTI: CTI Resource Management Services are motivated to emphasize employee satisfaction.
• Vivo School of Technology: Tired of going out of state to find programmers for his Pragmatic Works software company, Brian Knight is starting a training school in Jacksonville.
• Consulting for savings at North Highlands: While global consulting company North Highland's top client — government — has been cutting back, the 10-year-old Tallahassee office has been able to grow.

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

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Out of the Box Color Mob Miami What could be more fun than running a 5k in the middle of August? Let’s rephrase that. What could make running a 5k in the middle of August more fun? Try running while choking on clouds of colored powder that will stick to your skin and clothes, turning you into a human tie dye. That’s what you get when you join the Color Mob this Saturday.   » Full story from the Miami Herald » Color Mob 5K official site