Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 8/20/2021

New jobless claims stay at pre-pandemic level

Florida continues to see pre-pandemic levels of unemployment claims, with an estimated 4,092 first-time applications for benefits submitted last week. The estimate for the week that ended Aug. 14 was down from a revised count of 5,905 for the week that ended Aug. 7, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor. The federal agency initially reported 4,381 new claims during the week that ended Aug. 7. Even with the revision, Florida has had two consecutive weeks of the lowest numbers of unemployment claims since February 2020. More from the News Service of Florida.

As opposition mounts to FPL’s rate increase, regulators delay decision

Amid opposition to a proposed settlement agreement that would impose the largest rate increase in state history on Florida Power & Light’s residential customers, state utility regulators on Wednesday decided to spend two months getting feedback on the legal and practical impact of the proposal before approving it. More from the Miami Herald.

Super Bowl champs find a new sponsor

Finding room on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bandwagon is getting tough. The more the team wins, the more people realize they were lifelong fans all along. But Fifth Third Bank has managed to find a prominent seat and got it the old-fashioned way: it spent some money. The Cincinnati-based bank has signed on to become one of the lead sponsors of the team, taking on the role of the Bucs' official bank. More from the Business Observer.

July a record month for Duval County hotel revenue

What COVID-19 took away, it is now giving back for the hotel business in Duval County. The $49,586,742 total room revenue reported in July is the record for a single month, nearly $8 million above the previous high set in July 2019, according to data from STR, a national hotel business research company. Leisure travel, 62.2% of the business in July, is leading the surge, said Katie Mitura, spokeswoman for Visit Jacksonville. More from the Jacksonville Daily Record.

Allegiant launching nonstop Key West flights from St. Pete-Clearwater airport

If you hear the Keys calling, Allegiant Airlines will soon take you there. The carrier announced Wednesday that it’s launching nonstop service from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport to Key West starting in November. The flights will take place twice weekly starting Nov. 19. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Business Beat - Week of August 20th

Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video news brief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.

Event
If you like Caribbean rum, food and music, then this is the festival for you.

There’s a lot of newness with the Caribbean Food and Rum Festival this year. First of all, there’s that name. The fête was formerly known as the Caribbean Village Festival when, in previous years, it was staged in Lauderhill and then Miramar. For this seventh edition, the event is making the move to downtown Hollywood’s ArtsPark at Young Circle.