Central Florida’s high unemployment rate shows no signs of easing up anytime soon.
Roughly 3,619 Central Florida workers at large companies were told during the first nine months of 2011 that they would be laid off. That’s is up 93.5 percent, or nearly double the 1,870 employees notified of layoffs during the same period last year.
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TALLAHASSEE — Florida has given tax breaks and other cash incentives to some of the world’s biggest companies in return for creating jobs.
But even Walmart, Publix, Kraft Foods and other corporate giants have had trouble meeting job goals.
New data show that Florida has signed contracts worth $1.7 billion since 1995 in return for promises of 225,000 new jobs.
But only about one-third of those jobs have been filled while the state has paid out 43 percent of the contracts.
That averages out to $10,237 per job.
“Hopefully we’ll learn some important lessons,” said Rep. Mike Horner, a Kissimmee Republican whose budget committee controls economic development money.
Information on the performance of Florida’s incentive programs comes as Gov. Rick Scott prepares his budget request for new tax incentives next year. At least $125 million will be available in a fund lawmakers created for incentives.
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Florida’s unemployment rate fell to 10.6 percent in September after holding steady at 10.7 percent for three months, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday. Gov. Rick Scott held an impromptu media teleconference to release the numbers this morning from Brazil, where he had just arrived on a trade mission.
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Orlando’s hotel industry had an unusually busy September, with hotels in the tourist corridor boosting their occupancy significantly compared with a year ago.
Hotels in the Orlando area filled 56.4 percent of their rooms during the month, compared with 50.3 percent in September 2010. And the average daily room rate rose 5.7 percent to $81.85, according to Smith Travel Research, which tracks hotels in markets nationwide.
Still, it’s hard to read a lot into the results for September, generally a month when tourism is slow and group business is hit or miss.
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If there has been a consistent bright spot in Florida’s real estate market, it is the industrial sector — warehouse-type space that includes everything from grocery distribution facilities to storage to manufacturing plants. As of the second quarter, vacancy statewide was only about 10%. “That market is extremely hot and getting hotter,” says Ed Mitchell, of Duke Realty, which purchased 51 south Florida industrial buildings with close to 5 million square feet in late 2010 and early 2011. Mitchell says institutional investors and international players are shopping for Florida’s industrial developments and are willing to pay healthy prices.
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Overall activity across the Central Florida industrial market remained fairly upbeat during the third
quarter of 2011. Modest growth was experienced throughout the majority of the submarkets as
tenants continued to capitalize on discounted rents and favorable concessions. New deals remained
limited as existing tenants are merely trading spaces in the current market. Flight to quality continues
to be the common interest with class A quality space achieving what was once class B rates.
Investment activity, although showing signs of increased interest, remained slow in terms of
transaction volume and lack of available product. However, a few significant sales did occur
throughout the third quarter. As the fourth quarter begins and the 2011 year soon concludes, expect
market activity to remain consistent with the third quarter results – modest to strong tenant activity
and slow investment acquisitions.
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