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What you need to know about Florida today
Ian impacts seen in jobless numbers
In the wake of Hurricane Ian, Florida continues to see its highest numbers of unemployment claims in more than a year, with some Southwest Florida resorts announcing large temporary layoffs. The U.S. Department of Labor released a report Thursday that said Florida had 9,077 first-time unemployment claims during the week that ended Oct. 22, putting the state’s four-week average at 9,905 claims. Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida Sept. 28 before crossing the state. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Business Beat - Week of October 28th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Florida projects $10B hit from Ian’s damage to hurricane insurance backup fund
The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a state program that provides critical backup coverage to property insurers, is estimated to have $10 billion in losses from Hurricane Ian, officials said this week. The program commonly known as the “Cat Fund” will be able to handle Ian’s financial hit, though it will go into the 2023 hurricane season with reduced amounts of cash. [Source: Miami Herald]
Pension system funded at 83.4 percent
Florida’s pension system is 83.4 percent funded to meet its projected future obligations, according to a new state report. As of July 1, preliminary numbers showed the pension system had what is known as an “unfunded actuarial liability” of $35.6 billion, according to a report by the state’s Florida Retirement System Actuarial Assumption Conference. It said the “system’s funded status remains essentially the same as the 2021 final valuation at 83.4%.” [Source: News Service of Florida]
Floridians with past convictions wary of voting after wave of arrests
The upcoming 2022 midterm election brings a feeling of unease to Debra Bennett-Austin. She is among over a million Floridians who had their voting rights restored in 2018, when nearly two-thirds of voters approved a constitutional amendment that gives people with felony convictions access to the ballot after completing the terms of their sentence. Bennett-Austin, who was convicted of trafficking a controlled substance, meets the criteria, yet she remains hesitant to vote. [Source: Orlando Sentinel ]
Baptist Health Cancer Care: South Florida's cancer experts
Should a screening test lead to a cancer diagnosis, patients can seek treatment from Baptist Health Cancer Care. Miami Cancer Institute and Lynn Cancer Institute are partners in Baptist Health Cancer Care and have integrated their programs to become the largest provider of cancer services in South Florida. U.S. News & World Report has recognized Miami Cancer Institute and Lynn Cancer Institute as top healthcare facilities in the nation for cancer care. [ Sponsored report]
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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› South Florida as a tech hub: How ‘Innovation Day’ is uniting entrepreneurs
Hundreds of attendees gathered for daylong event in South Florida focused on collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship in the tech sphere. The South Florida Innovation Day brought people from across the tri-county area and other parts of Florida for the first event of its kind Wednesday. “The most important theme is to show that collaboration is the key to success,” said John Wensveen, Nova Southeastern University’s chief innovation officer and executive director of the Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation.
› Demand rising for office space in Jacksonville, 'the fastest growing metro in the state'
The number of unused or unoccupied office spaces around Jacksonville, which jumped during the COVID-19 pandemic, is decreasing at the tail end of 2022. About 20% of Jacksonville’s office spaces were vacant in the third quarter of the year, according to the latest Jones Lang LaSalle Office Insight Report for the area in October. The report from JLL, a commercial real estate services company, described Jacksonville as “the fastest growing metro in the state.”
› Despite slowing, Sarasota-Manatee housing market still near top of US ranking
Real estate statistics on September home sales in the Sarasota-Manatee County area continued to show a slowing market, but continued strength on price, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota Manatee. “We are continuing the trend that we’ve seen for several months now where the number of closed sales is dropping, and prices are leveling off,” said 2022 RASM President Tony Veldkamp.
› What happened to Orange County Convention Center’s expansion?
Before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world in March 2020, Central Florida's meetings industry was watching a planned $605 million expansion for the Orange County Convention Center that was expected to be done in 2023. However, Covid shut down all business and travel around the world — and Orlando — and brought the expansion's source of funding — resort tax collections — to a standstill.
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