Holiday travel to hit record numbers

Holiday travelers will have plenty of company this season as 98.6 million Americans take to the skyways and highways to celebrate with friends and family. That’s the most since AAA started tracking seasonal trends in 2001, up 4 percent from last year. [Source: Miami Herald]

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Enrollment in Florida commercial health insurance markets declines

Total enrollment in Florida's commercial health insurance marketplaces steadily declined in the five years leading up to 2013. Between 2012 and 2013, enrollment fell 5.9 percent to 3.1 million, according to an annual report from regulators. [Source: South Florida Business Journal]

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Freight industry data points to stronger U.S. economy

Two national freight reports suggest that 2014 may be one of the best years for shippers since the end of the Great Recession, and that tonnage is up and moving despite “costly freight bottlenecks” at the nation’s largest port resulting from on again, off again union contract negotiations. [Source: The City Wire]

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Quality Job Outlook Back at Pre-Recession Levels

The percentage of Americans saying now is a good time to find a quality job jumped to 36% in December, up six percentage points from November. This is by one point the highest percentage found since November 2007, prior to the start of the Great Recession. [Source: Gallup]

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Florida home prices hit milestone in November

Sales of existing single-family Florida homes last month were up 10.7 percent from the same time last year, but a pricing milestone was the most notable part of a market report released Monday. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

See also:
» Tampa area housing sales jump 21 percent from last year
» U.S. existing home sales hit six-month low, inventories low

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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Aficionados eager for return to U.S. of Cuban rum [Florida Today]
U.S. rum aficionados are abuzz over the possibility of mixing a Cuba Libre with authentic Cuban rum, now that they will be able to bring home liquor distilled in the communist nation.

› Anthem buys Coral Gables-based Simply Healthcare for estimated $1 billion [Miami Herald]
Simply Healthcare Holdings, a Coral Gables-based managed care company, has sold to Anthem, Inc., a publicly traded health insurer with headquarters in Indianapolis, for an estimated $1 billion. The two companies confirmed the deal but would not release the final sales price.

› Green Cove Springs company a key player in building Mozambique's fishing industry [Florida Times-Union]
A First Coast commercial fishing gear and supply company landed a $1 million contract with the government of Mozambique that the coastal African nation hopes can alter its harvest from the sea.

› From around the world, Venture Hive brings startups to Miami [Miami Herald]
From Barcelona to Sarajevo, from Buenos Aires to Bangladore, the startups accepted this week into Venture Hive’s next accelerator class once again represent a United Nations of innovation.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Portable moving storage firm PODS is being sold [Tampa Bay Times]
PODS, the Clearwater-based portable moving and storage pioneer, is being sold in its entirety to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. The parent company of PODS said the firm's headquarters will remain in Clearwater.

› Why Florida is the 5th-best state for entrepreneurs [South Florida Business Journal]
Florida is one of the best states to start a business, according to a Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council report released this month. The state ranked fifth for its entrepreneur-friendly policies, after South Dakota, Nevada, Texas and Wyoming.

› Florida small businesses report $151M in projected sales from Medica [Orlando Business Journal]
Twenty-five small and midsize Florida businesses that attended the Medica trade fair in Germany in November now expect more than $151 million in total projected export sales from the event, Enterprise Florida announced Monday.
» See also: Enterprise Florida says trip to medical trade show in Germany will result in export sales

› Sarasota designer has vision for video games [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Digital artist Joe Russ lives in Sarasota, but he spends a lot of time in a place called Arthurton. Russ, a digital motion designer by trade, is using Arthurton as the setting for a video game he’s creating starring a pre-teen named Jenny LeClue.