Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Friday's Afternoon Update

Weaker hiring raises stakes for Florida report

Stock markets aren’t open today, which will probably keep this from being too bad of a Friday for investors. The latest employment report contained a sizeable surprise: 120,000 new jobs in March, and not the 245,000 analysts expected. That sort of surprise tends to send Wall Street into a funk. The report only lays out the national hiring statistics, and Florida will gets its March report later in the month. As one of the country’s Top Five labor markets, Florida can be either a big help or a big anchor in the national hiring rebound. Read more from the Miami Herald and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In Case You Missed It
Trends in Florida Real Estate
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On Wednesday, Florida Trend hosted a live chat online to discuss all things real estate with

  • Florida Trend's South Florida editor Mike Vogel and two experts:
  • Dr. John Tuccillo, Florida Realtors Chief Economist
  • Lewis M. Goodkin, Real Estate Analyst, President of Goodkin Consulting

» Read the chat transcript

COLUMN: Isn't technology supposed to simplify things?

There’s a word that’s appearing with alarming frequency in recent communications with colleagues from around the world: “swamped.” And they’re not referring to our natural Florida habitat. The word usually appears in sentences such as, “Sorry for the delay in replying. I've been swamped.” I thought technology was supposed to lighten our workload! Remember all those promises of the paperless office? Read more of Scott Tilley's Tech Today.


Fort Lauderdale office featured in book about happy workplaces

American Express' Fort Lauderdale credit-card call center is featured in a new book, All In: : How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results, about how happy workplaces drive results. Authors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, authors of the best-selling book, The Carrot Principle, say they have empirical evidence to back up the idea that happy workers are more productive. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]


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

  • South of the Border: The European crisis has investors eyeing Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico.
  • Lifestyle: Three profiles of concierge services around the state.
  • Florida Icon : Tibor Hollo, President of Florida East Coast Realty
  • Florida Economic Yearbook: Economic indicators for Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida

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

Business Challenge
photo Get on the Shelf

A small St. Augustine company and a small Jacksonville farm are one big step closer to the biggest target in retail: The shelves of Walmart. Veterans Farm Datil Pepper Salt is one of the 10 finalists in Walmart's Get on the Shelf competition. More than 4,000 products were entered, the public cast votes for four weeks. The second round of voting runs Wednesday through April 24, when the three winners will be announced. The top vote getter will be offered a spot on Walmart's shelves. Second and third place can go to Walmart.com. Read more from the Florida Times-Union and see also: