Floridians have economic pessimism to start 2022, consumer sentiment drops in January

Consumer sentiment among Floridians dropped 2.3 points in January to 70.0 from December’s revised figure of 72.3 and is down 12.6 points from a year ago. Similarly, consumer sentiment at the national level decreased in January. “The decline in January is not unexpected considering the ongoing supply disruptions caused by the fast-spreading Omicron variant that have undermined economic activity, pushed prices higher, and caused inflation to reach its highest level in nearly four decades,” said Hector H. Sandoval, director of the Economic Analysis Program at UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research. More from UF News.

Battle over casino initiative continues as deadline passes

The fate of a proposed constitutional amendment that would open the door to Las Vegas-style casinos in North Florida remained in limbo Tuesday, after a judge refused to immediately give backers of the proposal more time for verification of signatures required for placement on the 2022 ballot. Florida Voters in Charge, the committee sponsoring the proposed amendment, faced a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday to have nearly 900,000 signatures validated by state elections officials to reach the November ballot. More from the News Service of Florida.

Orlando metro in top 10 for jobs with high risks of automation, study says

A new study shows the Orlando metro area is at high risk for jobs going automated. Commodity.com says 44% of Orlando-Kississimmee-Sanford metro area workers could see their jobs transitioning to something computerized. It’s based on a study from Oxford University, which calculated the probability of various “lower-skilled” positions becoming automated in the future. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

South Florida salaries growing fastest in nation

Wages and salaries grew faster in South Florida than in any other large area of the nation for the year ended in December, figures released Tuesday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics found. In a tight labor market, wages and salaries in the seven-county area stretching from Miami-Dade to the north grew 6% for the year, easily outpacing the national gain of 5%, according to the bureau’s figures. The federal agency measures 15 metropolitan areas in the nation where local compensation costs are available. More from Miami Today.

Tampa’s Synapse Summit founder talks innovation and FOMO in the tech world

Imagine a business summit in which the speakers all emphasize the power of innovation, the promise of the future and the importance of a collaborative community. And then imagine that less than a month later, a pandemic sends all those newly motivated attendees into lockdown. That’s pretty much what happened at the last in-person Synapse Summit, a Tampa gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs and investors from Florida and beyond. More from the Tampa Bay Times.