Florida's weekly unemployment claims below 5,000

Despite mounting inflation, people continuing to leave jobs for better opportunities and lingering impacts from the omicron variant of the coronavirus, the U.S. Department of Labor estimated Florida had 4,941 first-time unemployment claims last week. The total was down from a revised count of 6,044 claims during the week that ended Feb. 12. The new estimate also lowered a running four-week average of new claims by 601 to 5,898 claims. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Business Beat - Week of February 25th

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Fleeing to Florida? New arrivals explain why they moved

For a long time, researchers at the University of Florida included a question in their ongoing, decades-long survey of Floridians: If you weren’t born in this state, why are you here? The answers remained a constant for so many years that in 2019 they stopped asking. Experts say no one knows if those reasons have changed, like so many other facets of American life have, during the coronavirus pandemic. But Florida’s elected leaders contend that something different is luring residents. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

War in Europe could impact gas prices in Florida

Economists predict the impact on gas prices due to the Ukraine-Russian crisis could be felt here in Florida relatively soon. According to a AAA report, the Sunshine State hit a record high earlier this week of an average gas price at $3.51. The impact has been felt on drivers and local businesses that deal in transportation. [Source: Spectrum News 13]

Florida looks to implement mobile identification options by end of year

The first time Daniela Corredor lost her passport, she wondered why, with today’s technology, there weren’t any digital alternatives to official documents. Soon, there will be. Virtual IDs will be rolling out across Florida by the end of the year. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is in the final stages of testing the IDs before officially launching the state’s first mobile driver’s license, Deputy Communications Director Jessica Kelleher said. [Source: WUFT]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Parts of Central Florida now officially in a drought [Click Orlando]
While there has been gloomy and wet weather more often than not in Central Florida over the last six weeks or so, the moisture hasn’t amounted to much. Last week, the western half of Central Florida was highlighted in the “abnormally dry” category by the United States Department of Agriculture for the first time this dry season. With no rain over the past week, areas northwest of Orlando are now considered to be in a moderate drought. The drought monitor is released every Thursday morning by the USDA.

› Tampa-based Project Dynamo mapping routes to get Americans out of Ukraine [Tampa Bay Times]
Several Tampa Bay veterans and humanitarians are on the ground in Ukraine with their organization called Project Dynamo. The non-profit group works to get Americans out of war-torn areas, but as Russian troops make their way into eastern Ukraine in what the White House calls an invasion, it’s becoming more difficult for the group to perform its mission.

› Apartment rents are soaring in Miami. New local laws could give tenants some relief [Miami Herald]
While Florida and local laws mostly give landlords latitude on increasing rents once a lease expires, there’s a push in Miami-Dade County to impose some new rules on the timing of those hikes. A proposed countywide ordinance would require 60 days notice before a landlord could increase rent by more than 5% at the end of a lease, or for tenants without fixed leases. 

› South Florida-based BrandsMart USA to be acquired by Aaron’s [WPLG]
BrandsMart U.S.A., the Broward County-based appliance and electronics retailer, is in agreement to be acquired by The Aaron’s Company, the businesses announced. The deal, estimated to be worth $230 million, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, Atlanta-based Aaron’s said. BrandsMart, founded in 1977, has 10 retail stores in Florida and Georgia and said it plans to remain headquartered in Fort Lauderdale after the merger.

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› 5 ways Festival of the Arts Boca will make you smarter [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
After a year off due to the pandemic, Festival of the Arts Boca returns to live speakers and performances on March 4 with a lineup that seems particularly relevant and eclectic — from expertise on provocative moves by Vladimir Putin to moves like Jagger. Running through March 13 at Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton, the festival has been one of South Florida’s most important cultural incubators since 2007, with thoughtfully curated entertainment its signature.

› Talks for future of ailing Cocoa museum resume after Brevard Zoo withdraws interest [Florida Today]
A grassroots nonprofit in Cocoa is one step closer to securing the future of the ailing Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science after the Brevard Zoo withdrew a brief interest in the property at Tuesday's Cocoa City Council meeting. Zoo representatives on Feb. 14 made a site visit to the property, which includes the museum facility and about 19 acres of nature preserve north of the Eastern Florida State College Cocoa campus, to assess its potential use as a nature center as part of the zoo's "Restore Our Shores" lagoon conservation project, Brevard Zoo Executive Director Keith Winsten said.

› This massive Italian food hall in Brickell City Centre is now closed for good [Miami Herald]
The sun has set on Luna Park. The Italian food hall at Brickell City Centre in Miami, which opened in 2019 in the former three-story space of La Centrale Italian food hall, has closed its doors for good. A Brickell City Centre spokesperson confirmed the closure but declined to comment further on why it shut down.

› Jacksonville, DIA reach settlement with Metropolitan Parking Solutions   [Jacksoville Daily Record]
The city and Downtown Investment Authority have reached a mediated settlement in the nearly yearlong legal fight with Metropolitan Parking Solutions LLC over the company’s 2004 development agreement for three Northbank parking garages. The settlement agreement signed Feb. 22 ends the city and DIA’s dispute with MPS that reached the 4th Judicial Circuit Court.