Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Monday's Daily Pulse

Mature job seekers find Sunshine State's market anything but warm

After the Great Recession and slow recovery forced them to adjust their retirement strategies, more boomers intend to supplement their pensions and savings with some kind of paid job. And workplaces are not yet prepared for this new wave of semi-retirement. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Shortage of lots keeps housing starts low

Homebuilders might be facing labor and land shortages, but they say there's nothing wrong with demand. When the housing market tanked, laborers left the industry and have been slow to return. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Busy buyers revive personal shopping services

Florida has seen an uptick in high-end shopping services as the economy recovers and consumers are crunched for time. The luxury-goods market, a key component of the personal shopping industry, is one of the fastest growing in all of retail. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Increase in cremations means growing revenues for county governments

As record numbers of Floridians choose cremations over traditional burials, local governments are benefiting by collecting millions of dollars in "cremation review fees" that some funeral home and crematories say is unnecessary and merely a way to pad government budgets. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Why women don’t apply for jobs unless they’re 100% qualified

Men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them. The finding comes from a Hewlett Packard internal report, and has been quoted in Lean In, The Confidence Code and dozens of articles. I [Source: Harvard Business Review]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Major utilities pour money into solar initiative
Four major electric utilities continued pouring money last month into a proposed solar-energy ballot initiative, as backers race to try to qualify for the November 2016 ballot.

› How 'Star Wars' could become Disney's next cash cow
When Walt Disney Co. put up $4 billion to buy "Star Wars" creator Lucasfilm in 2012, Wall Street wasn't sure it was a good bet.

› South Florida software company sold to out-of-state firm
A Coral Springs software company that develops programs for senior living communities has agreed to be acquired by MatrixCare in Bloomington, Minnesota.

› Staples forced to weigh costs of battle to merge with Office Depot
With its planned merger in federal court, Staples and Office Depot enter a tenuous time where acquiring company Staples will have to decide: Is the court fight to acquire Office Depot worth the cost and risk, especially if it lasts several months?

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› Coral Gables ad agency lays off 62 workers, shuts down
A Coral Gables advertising agency has laid off 62 employees and will shut down. Commonground/MGS filed a notice with state regulators earlier this week announcing the layoffs.

› Cuban tourists who never leave U.S. get easy immigration path
Waves of Cuban immigrants are pouring into the United States on rickety boats or via eight-country treks through Central America. But others are taking a faster, safer route: Flying to Miami on visitor visas and then staying.

› MIA passenger total already beats 2014
Miami International Airport surpassed its 2014 total of 40.9 million passengers on Thursday, and with 3.2 million more passengers than at the same point last year, the annual record of 44 million may be within reach.

› Florida judge backs natural-gas pipeline, cites 'public interest'
Saying the project is in the "public interest," an administrative law judge Friday rejected an environmental group's challenge to a planned pipeline that would carry natural gas from Alabama to Central Florida.