Florida unemployment rate lowest in 10 largest states

Florida's unemployment rate dropped to 2.6% in November, the lowest of the 10 largest states in the U.S. and 1.1 percentage points lower than the national rate. It was also the 24th consecutive month that Florida’s unemployment rate remained below the national rate. In November, Florida continued to exceed the national job growth rate for the 20th consecutive month; its employers have added jobs for 31 consecutive months. [Source: The Center Square]

What you need to know about the new Florida laws that take effect on Jan. 1

Florida legislators and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed six bills into law that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. These laws are related to topics including money, health and legal codes. One new law changes the purpose of the Florida Control of Money Laundering in Money Services Business Act in terms of cryptocurrency. It focuses on changing the duties, violations and penalties for businesses that transmit money and authorized vendors. [Source: WPBF]

2022 has been a deadly year for eating oysters in Florida

Those sweet shellfish may be tempting, but eating oysters in Florida has been dangerous this year. Oysters have sickened people in the Sunshine State with three different types of illnesses, at least one of them deadly. Federal officials issued a warning last week for raw oysters harvested in Galveston Bay, Texas, and sold in Florida, along with seven other states. The oysters were potentially contaminated with norovirus and sold to restaurants and retailers. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Trulieve spending big on Florida recreational ballot measure

Marijuana company Trulieve is bankrolling a proposal to legalize the recreational use of its products for nonmedical purposes. The Florida-based company with growing facilities in Gadsden County has contributed all but $124 of the $15 million raised to promote a proposed constitutional amendment for the 2024 ballot to decriminalize the plant for personal use. [Source: Florida Today]

Ratings agency raises questions about future of Florida’s toll road rebates

Florida lawmakers should anticipate some “political and social” pressure at the end of a one-year program that will offer credits to frequent toll-road users, according to a financial rating agency. In a report released Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service said the program, which will begin Jan. 1, will “buoy” toll road demand without reducing revenues because the state will make up lost toll dollars. But the report also questioned what could occur when the temporary program ends. More from the News Service of Florida and the Tampa Bay Times.

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Alachua County officials give city officials hard deadline to sell communications system [Gainesville Sun]
County and city officials are facing off over a matter of public safety involving a massive telecommunications system. Nearly a year ago, the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners sent a letter to the Gainesville City Commission asking to purchase the city’s trunked radio system, which is a public safety radio system used mostly by emergency services and smaller municipalities throughout the county.

› Orlando ranked as one of best cities for a side hustle, study says [Orlando Sentinel]
Orlando ranked near the top of the list as one of the best places for a person to have a side hustle. LLC.org conducted a study analyzing key factors across 170 cities in America for the best place to make extra income. Orlando ranks 30th when factoring in affordability and accessibility for side hustles. The study used eight equally-weighted measures in categories like affordability, flexibility and the current economic environment.

› First vertical North Miami housing in decades ready to go [Miami Today]
A new mixed-use project, Residences at NoMi, is expected to break ground in the first quarter of 2023 after receiving long-awaited funding from the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency. Residences at NoMi, approved by the North Miami City Council in March 2019, was awarded an $8 million infrastructure grant from the North Miami CRA at its Dec. 13 meeting. The project includes mixed-income senior living, with 175 market-rate units and 40 affordable units, as well as 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and office space.

› 18 major architect firms invited to submit proposals for Sarasota Performing Arts Center [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Several internationally prominent architectural firms and others that have created recognizable projects around the world are on the list for potential companies to design the proposed Sarasota Performing Arts Center. Gehry Partners LLP, the firm founded by Frank Gehry, one of the world’s best known architects, who designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, is among the 18 firms that have been invited to submit proposals by the architect selection task force.

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› Pasco County employees see pay bump after salary study [Tampa Bay Times]
In an effort to attract and retain quality employees, Pasco County recently announced it is boosting pay for most of its government workforce. Starting salaries for most positions increased an average of 10 to 15%. County commissioners recently completed pay and class study to evaluate pay ranges for hundreds of county employees in a full spectrum of jobs.

› Duval hotel room rates continue to rise  [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Duval County hotels report room rate and revenue growth was average in November compared with last year, according to data released by Visit Jacksonville. The average room rate increased $8 compared with November 2021 to $108.52. Properties reported a slight decrease in occupancy in November 2022 to 68.9%, attributed to cancellations and the postponement of travel because of Hurricane Nicole, which affected Florida in early November.

› Brevard commissioners set legislative priorities for state action, from roads to aquarium [Florida Today]
Brevard County commissioners this week approved a wide-ranging legislative program that includes seeking more state funding for the widening of Ellis Road, as well as for the construction of an aquarium and an amphitheater. Commissioner John Tobia will present the commission's requests to the county's seven-member Florida legislative delegation at their annual meeting on Jan. 11.

› Canaveral Nat’l Seashore, Playalinda Beach smashed by Hurricane Nicole are ‘not going to be the same’ [Orlando Sentinel]
What makes Canaveral National Seashore so revered in Florida is that visitors can commune with the wildest nature, some two-dozen miles of Atlantic surf rolling onto beaches never reconstructed, far from T-shirt shops and conjuring a sense of before European conquest. A surprise and decisive beating by Hurricane Nicole in November has altered how visitors, 2.2 million last year, will experience Canaveral’s nature and has set the stage for more disruption to the longest wilderness coast along Florida’s Atlantic coast.