March 29, 2024

Monday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 12/6/2021

Staffing up for the holidays: Retailers offer higher wages and perks as hiring incentives

Faced with a tight labor market, pressing supply chain issues, high demand and an economy that favors less consumer-facing jobs, Florida retailers are offering higher wages, signing bonuses and other perks in order to stand out. Chris Jones, an economist at the University of South Florida, said that many of the country's largest retailers prepared and staffed up ahead of the Thanksgiving shopping weekend. But there are still plenty of "now hiring" signs to go around. More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Florida farmers competing for drivers, trucks to get food to consumers

While global supply chain issues are reportedly easing, Florida farmers told lawmakers last week that perishable items with short shelf lives continue to struggle in being moved from fields to markets. During a meeting of the Senate Agriculture Committee, growers said the industry faces transportation and labor shortages in getting products out of the ground and to market. They also face increased prices and delays for materials -- such as seeds, fertilizers and chemicals -- needed to grow crops. More from WJXT.

Invasive tegu lizards survive Florida cold and eat tortoise babies

The Argentine black and white tegu is multiplying and mobilizing in the backwoods and backyards of the Sunshine State — a creature more ominous than pythons because of its cold hardiness and indiscriminate palate. Wildlife officials have warned for years about the tegu’s expansion in South Florida’s amenable subtropical climate, but now the unusually brainy reptile is colonizing as far north as St. Lucie County with an appetite for everything from gopher tortoise babies to bananas. More from the AP.

Gas prices could drop below $3 as COVID fears affect oil prices

Gas prices continue to inch back, dropping four cents in Florida and the nation in the last week, according to a report from AAA. The drop in price is due to a 13% plunge in crude oil prices after Thanksgiving as news of the omicron variant of COVID-19 began to impact global fuel demand, according to AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins. More from the Orlando Sentinel .

Investment firm will lay off 31 more, growing list of job cuts due to outsourcing to 206

Franklin Templeton Investments is laying off an additional 31 people in St. Petersburg, bringing the total number of layoffs to 206. The company had originally notified the state that 175 people were losing their jobs. It sent a follow up letter six days later upping that to 206. The letter does not explain why the number of employees losing their jobs changed. The layoffs will begin Jan. 31 and the job losses will be permanent. More from the Business Observer.

Entertainment Trends
‘Florida Man’ Netflix series filming in North Carolina

 It looks like Florida man is taking his show on the road. Despite the name, filming is continuing in North Carolina on the upcoming Netflix show “Florida Man,” which is set to debut next year on the streaming service. The film will star Edgar Ramírez (”Jungle Cruise,” “Yes Day”) as an ex-cop who must return to his home state of Florida to find a Philly mobster’s runaway girlfriend.

» More from the Orlando Sentinel.

 

Profile
Restaurateur Al Mansur shares his inspiration, strategy — and his No. 1 problem

floridaFor more than 30 years, Al Mansur has been opening and operating restaurants in Jacksonville. He started in 1988 with the first Al’s Pizza at Beach Boulevard and San Pablo Road and now has five locations around Northeast Florida. He opened the Flying Iguana Taqueria & Tequila Bar in Neptune Beach in 2013 and he built the Coop 303 classic contemporary food and cocktails restaurant in 2018 at a former Al’s Pizza location in Atlantic Beach.

» Read more from the Jacksonville Daily Record.

Tags: Daily Pulse, Afternoon Pulse

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Bitter-to-swallow cocoa costs force chocolate shops to raise prices
Bitter-to-swallow cocoa costs force chocolate shops to raise prices

Central Floirda chocolate shops are left with a bitter taste as cocoa prices hit an all-time high earlier this week.

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