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How Ill a Wind? Hurricanes’ Impacts on Employment and Earnings

According to the Current Employment Statistics payroll survey, seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment declined 33,000 in September. This decline was the first drop in employment since 2010 and followed a 169,000 gain in August. At the same time, seasonally adjusted average hourly earnings in the private sector increased 2.9 percent year over year in September. This […] Read more

To Build or Not Build in the Southeast?

Office Renovations Take Off Many U.S. cities have seen the return of construction cranes in recent years. However, unlike in previous building booms, residential towers have dominated new construction. So far, new office construction has not yet reached its prerecession level.  On the other hand, cities across the nation are bustling with office renovations. Could […] Read more

Post Recession – Job Skills Change

The Great Recession Drastically Changed the Skills Employers Want   The employment shift from occupations that require mid-level skills toward those at the high and low ends is one of the most important trends in the U.S. labor market over the past 30 years. Previous research has suggested that a primary driver of this job polarization […] Read more

Harvey vs Housing

Did Harvey Influence the Housing Market? The August housing and construction data are starting to trickle in. So far, the data tell us that residential investment could be a drag on third-quarter gross domestic product growth. They also tell us that U.S. existing home sales were down slightly (-1.65 percent) from the month-earlier level but flat […] Read more

Virtual Mitigation, We’re already doing it!

Which is more damaging, a hurricane or a fire.  In either case your building, systems, records, power and telecom can be down or lost.  Contingency plans are needed to survive for any disaster.  The only real difference is how far away your alternate operations site will be.  With the Cloud and cyber operations we are “virtually” better off […] Read more

Another Storm

Equifax, the Credit Reporting Industry, and What Congress Should Do Next   Even for the experts, the recent data breach at Equifax was staggering. The data that undergirds the credit records of 143 million consumers was compromised. Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and drivers’ license records are used to authenticate identity. It is not difficult […] Read more

The Power of Mitigation

It’s hard to imagine a broader impact scenario for Florida, all those people leaving and then trying to return.  Power and support resourced having to be spread throughout the state … yet we were lucky. But here the degree of mitigation we’ve already implemented is telling.  The article below  on 9/14 put the damage at $180 Billion.  […] Read more

We’re Good for Business

Here’s where Florida ranks among top states for best business climate   Florida ranks second among the 50 states for having the best business climate, according to a new survey of U.S. corporate executives released Monday at the International Economic Development Council annual conference. Texas ranked first and Georgia ranked third, followed by South Carolina and […] Read more

Business Disaster Mitigation and Planning

How Tampa Bay businesses can keep going in the eye of the storm   Employees should be at the top of the list of importance as businesses prepare for a hurricane or other natural disaster. Staging drills, setting up employee contact systems and ensuring mission-critical workers can do their jobs remotely are among the key steps […] Read more

Beige Book – Southeast, September 6, 2017

Summary of Economic Activity According to reports from businesses across the Sixth District, economic activity expanded at a modest pace from July through mid-August. The outlook among contacts remains optimistic as most expect slow and steady growth over the remainder of the year. Businesses reported continued tightness in the labor market, though wage growth remained […] Read more

How a $20B marketplace opened up to Vology of Oldsmar feedly

Vology goes to space … —- How a $20B marketplace opened up to Vology of Oldsmar // Tampa Business News – Local Tampa News | The Tampa Bay Business Journal For 23 months, a team of 10 Vology Inc. employees spent thousands of hours writing a proposal including prices for hundreds of thousands of the […] Read more

Three reasons why U.S. banks aren’t entering Cuba – yet feedly

—- Three reasons why U.S. banks aren’t entering Cuba – yet // Tampa Business News – Local Tampa News | The Tampa Bay Business Journal It’s easy to get excited about the opening-up of trade relations with Cuba, and while many banks in South Florida and the U.S. are interested, unknowns are keeping financial institutions […] Read more