Labor Market

As Unemployment Rises, Economists Say We May Be In A Recession

South Florida Actually a Good Place to Start a Small Business

You never would have guessed it, considering we're more or less ground zero for the foreclosure crisis, but the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area is actually the 12th best place to start a small business, according to Biz Journals. The rankings cited South Florida's strong population and job growth. Betwee ... More >>

Say No to the Stadium

Today the Miami-Dade County Commission will vote to build the Florida Marlins a new stadium. Or not. I hope they don't. This deal is such a stinker I don't know how Mayor Carlos Alvarez, the stadium's chief cheerleader, doesn't walk around wearing a gas mask every time he is out promoting it. So he ... More >>

'The Fix Is In': Now Where the F Are All Those New Jobs?

So much for protests. Taxpayers are on the hook for a $634 million new playground for the Marlins, and the biggest grassroots organizer against the project says he wishes he hadn't wasted his time fighting it."The fix is in. It was a dog-and-pony show," says Michael Burnstine, an insurance sale ... More >>

Florida Unemployment Hits 9.4 Percent

Sometimes it seems like the economy is hitting Miami-Dade from all sides, but there's a bit of good news: We're not quite as unemployed as the rest of the state. Florida's unemployment rate for February was released today, and it is not good: 9.4 percent! That's up from 8.1 percent in January, and g ... More >>

Help Wanted

Check out how Mr. Zero dealt with a crappy situation.

Lift Every Voice and Sing!

Check out how Mr. Zero dealt with a crappy situation.

The Bitch

De La Carnival of Souls

Fire Away

Work got ya down? Get your pod fired up at a motivation seminar!

FTAA and Me

Looking out for number one, what's in this for Miami?

Meet Your Neighbors One Year Later

Overtown's Louise and Jeanette hold steady, but Little Haiti's Naomi is barely holding on

Score one for Bob Kunst

The canned CAN executive director gets a little help from the Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security

Miami: City of the Future! It'll Be Great Here... Eventually!

Some futurists have looked into their crystal balls and dubbed Miami a "City of the Future."Does that mean we'll get jet packs and phones implanted directly into our heads before everyone else? Uh, no, but it means in the future we'll have great "economic potential, human resources, cost effectivene ... More >>

Miami Ranks 53rd for Young People Looking to Make That Money

Miami's job market don't care about the young folks.​If you're a strapping young lad or lass fresh out of college and looking to plant your foot on the career ladder, Miami is apparently not a good place to start. Believe me -- all I could snag out of college was writing this here blog*, and that ... More >>

Florida Unemployment Rate Reaches Highest Level of All Time

​12.2 percent. That was the unemployment rate in Florida for February, and the highest ever recorded. Miami-Dade's adjusted unemployment rate sits at 11.8, up from 11.7 last month. The national rate sits at 9.7 percent.All in all the sunshine state has lost 211,500 jobs in the past year. Ther ... More >>

Legalizing Pot Will Fix the Economy

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. Up this week, Luke makes the case for legalizing marijuana across the nation, beginning in Miami-Dade County.Off the bat, I am not a weed he ... More >>

Luke's Gospel: Legalizing marijuana will fix the economy

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. Up this week, Luke makes the case for legalizing marijuana across the nation, beginning in Miami-Dade County.Off the bat, I am not a weed he ... More >>

Miami Tops Forbes List of U.S. Cities in "Free Fall"

a piece by Li Wei​Forbes.com is always busy making their lists, and Miami has finally taken the number one spot on one. Unfortunately it's called "Ten U.S. Cities In Free Fall."Miami boasts a popular South Beach club scene, Art Deco Architecture, and perhaps the best Cuban food in the country ... More >>

As Florida Unemployment Falls, Miami-Dade's Rate Jumps Nearly a Full Point

via Ryan O'Keefe​Somewhat encouraging news on the employment front: Florida's unemployment numbers fell for the second month in a row. That's only the second two months run of dents in the massive unemployment rate since February 2006. For May, Florida's unemployment rate was 11.7 percent, that's ... More >>

Miami-Dade Unemployment Rate Rises in June

​The overall unemployment rate in Florida declined in June, but the Miami-Dade county saw the steepest ride in the entire state. The unemployment rate jumped half a percent from 12.3 in May to 12.8 in June. 

After Historic Decline, Florida's Population is Growing Again

​Between 2008 and 2009 Florida's population shrunk for the first time since World War II. The net loss of 58,000 residents was attributed to the recession and real estate woes. Now, the University of Florida says Florida's population is back on the rise, and says that may be a good sign for t ... More >>

Miami-Dade Unemployment Rates Rises to 14.4 Percent

​The unemployment rate in Miami-Dade county rose to a staggering 14.4 percent in the month of August, the Agency for Workforce Innovation reported today. That's a full one percent jump since last month and a 2.8 percent jump since August 2009. Basically, 188,000 are hopelessly unemployed Lloyds an ... More >>

Miami Named Third Worst Job Market in the Country by Forbes

​It's not a particularly great time to be unemployed in America right now, a fact far too many of us know first hand, and if you're looking for a job in South Florida things aren't looking too good. Forbes.com has ranked Miami as the third worst job market in the country. Though, the site cites an ... More >>

Rick Scott Ends Twitter Town Hall As Soon As He's Called a "Jackass"

Our new gov's evening smoke and tweet session ended on a sour note.​Yesterday, Rick Scott fired up the ol' Interwebs and announced his first inaugural "Twitter Town Hall." Surprise, surprise! He's just as evasive 140 characters at a time as he is in real time.Even still, the event was going just f ... More >>

More Than One in Five Floridians Seriously Considering Moving Out of State

Well, it could help create jobs in the moving industry. ​Despite the fact the rest of the country has been a veritable snow hell recently while Florida has remained largely frost free, a new poll finds that more than one out of every five Floridians is thinking about moving out of state. That's pr ... More >>

Bob Graham Thinks Florida Has Lost Its Way

​To talk about respected, legendary Florida politicians is to talk about Bob Graham. The former Governor and Senator was one of the few politicians to manage sustained cross-party popularity and still looms large over the state as an occasional source of wisdom. Yesterday, the retired moderate Dem ... More >>

Will Orlando Push Miami Out as Florida's Most Economically Important Metro Area?

​Back in 1987, writer T.D. Allman declared in the title of his book that Miami was "The City of the Future," and over the next two decades, our metropolitan area largely made good on the moniker through impressive growth and increasing economic importance. Twenty-four years later, though, Miami is ... More >>

Rick Scott's Major Failure: Legislature Won't Eliminate Corporate Income Tax

​Florida is undergoing a radical conservative transformation under Gov. Rick Scott, but one of his top proposals seems to be a bridge too far and too soon even for the Republican supermajorities in the state House and Senate.Even at a time when billion-dollar deficits have become the norm for Flor ... More >>

Florida Unemployment Hits Lowest Level in 19 Months, But Tops 13 Percent in Miami-Dade

​Well, here's the "good" news. Florida's unemployment rate now sits at 10.8 percent according to numbers from the month of April. That's still stupendously high, and still well above the national rate of 9.2 percent. The bad news it that the unemployment actually rose in Miami-Dade in April, a ... More >>

Lie: Rick Scott Infers He's Better at Creating Job Than Obama

​It's one thing for a politician to twist facts and figures to support his own agenda. Unfortunately, it's just business as usual for the political class. It's quite another for a politician to have such little faith in the intelligence of his constituents that he straight-up lies about figures an ... More >>

Florida's Unemployment Rate is Lowest Since August 2009, But Miami-Dade's Rises Again

​The unemployment rate in Florida has fallen for the fifth straight month in May, mirroring a national trend. Unfortunately, there isn't much to celebrate in Miami-Dade. The local unemployment rate rose once again by 0.5 percent and is now the second highest unemployment rate of any county in Flor ... More >>

Rick Scott Gets Over His Fear of Trains and Approves SunRail

​Gov. Rick Scott has seemed to overcome his hesitations about funding Central Florida's SunRail commuter train program and announced his approval of state funding for the program today. Scott's first big decision in office was surprisingly killing a federally funded high-speed train project, a mov ... More >>

Rick Scott's dirtiest deeds

​Gov. Rick Scott has seemed to overcome his hesitations about funding Central Florida's SunRail commuter train program and announced his approval of state funding for the program today. Scott's first big decision in office was surprisingly killing a federally funded high-speed train project, a mov ... More >>

Rick Scott Falsely Claims Florida's Unemployment Rate Has Fallen Faster Than Any Other Since He Took Office

​Rick Scott spent his entire morning today serving doughnuts at a shop in Tampa in an effort to paint himself as a creator-of-jobs governor and score some publicity points. Of course, directly after, he got on a talk radio show to talk all about it.Scott was chatting on WFTL 850 AM in Pompano Bea ... More >>

Miami-Dade's Unemployment Rate Fell 1.4 Percent in July, But Florida Still Lost 22,100 Jobs

​Rick "The Jobs Governor" Scott has pointed to Florida's slowly dwindling unemployment rate since he took office in January. In fact, from January through June the state added 64,300 jobs. July is a different story. More than a third of those total jobs gained have now been lost.The good news ... More >>

Marco Rubio Says Obama's Jobs Plan Won't Work, Moody's Top Economist Says It Will

​Yesterday, President Obama outline a proposed $447 billion jobs bill that would cut payroll taxes, increase spending on infrastructure and public works programs, and extend unemployment benefits.Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, with lightning-fast speed, released a statement and video response last nigh ... More >>

Wells Fargo Laid Off 258 Employees in Doral, Released Report Saying Jobs in South Florida Are on the Rise

​Yesterday, Wells Fargo laid off 258 employees at a call center in Doral. But fear not, former Wells Fargo workers! Today, Wells Fargo released a report saying South Florida will help lead the state in job growth over the next year. Just apparently not the call-center jobs at Wells Fargo.

Miami-Dade's Unemployment Rate Falls for Second Month in a Row

​Though the unemployment rate at both the national and state levels remains stagnant or sagging, the job market in Miami-Dade continues to make gains. From August 2010 to last month, 13,900 jobs were added in Miami-Dade. However, our seasonally adjusted unemployment rate still sits at 12 ... More >>

Miami Ranked One of America's Most Stressful Cities

​Oh sure we've got decent weather and calming seas, but it's not exactly a surprise that for us living year round in Miami life can be stressful. Let's not even get started on our ridiculous traffic, horrible parking, and tanked economy. So it shouldn't be shocki ... More >>

Rick Scott No Longer Promises Floridians 700,000 New Jobs

Rick Scott's pledge that he'd create 700,000 new jobs for Floridians in addition to expected job growth was perhaps one of the least controversial themes of his election campaign. Yeah, well, sorry -- he's flip-flopped on that. He's no longer promising 700,000 jobs in addition to the jobs the state ... More >>

Rick Perry: Awful politician, genius campaigner

Rick Scott's pledge that he'd create 700,000 new jobs for Floridians in addition to expected job growth was perhaps one of the least controversial themes of his election campaign. Yeah, well, sorry -- he's flip-flopped on that. He's no longer promising 700,000 jobs in addition to the jobs the state ... More >>

Rick Scott Still Trying to Figure Out Exactly What His Campaign Promises Meant

Back when he was running for Governor, Rick Scott promised that he'd add 700,000 jobs in Florida over seven years in addition to what the economy would produce regardless of who was Governor. It seemed like a simple enough promise at the time, but now ten months into his term he's still ap ... More >>

Rick Scott: "I Don't Have to Create Any Jobs"

​Rick Scott's central campaign promise seemed pretty simple: His economic plan would create 700,000 additional jobs on top of normal job growth over seven years. In the past month, Scott has been flip-flopping wildly on that promise, and this morning on a conservative radio show, he said, "I could ... More >>

Binge Drinking Rises with Unemployment: UMiami Study

​Don't think just because incomes tend to dwindle during times of job loss that folks still aren't shelling out cash for booze. In fact, a new University of Miami study claims that incidents of binge drinking tend to rise with state unemployment levels. The study flies in the face of previous stud ... More >>

Rick Scott's Jobs Plan Producing Mostly No-Benefit Gigs Paying $19,000 A Year

​Last month Gov. Rick Scott bragged that the unemployment in Florida had dropped a tenth of one percent, with 64,000 jobs added between January and July. True enough, but now it turns out that more than half those jobs were health care, food service and hotel gigs paying low wages with little to n ... More >>

Miami is the Worst City in America to Find a Job

​Looking for a job? Maybe you should also be looking for a new place to live outside South Florida. Not one, but two job listings sites have run the numbers and declared that the Miami metro area is the worst place to find a job in America. Sure, there may be places with higher unemployment, b ... More >>

Grand Central Park Opens Today, But Is It A Waste Of Taxpayers' $200,000?

Grand Central Park​When Tiffany Dallas, a master's student at Florida International University, started researching her thesis on redeveloping Overtown, she was fascinated by Grand Central owner Brad Knoefler's plan to turn a blighted patch of land opposite his club -- once the home of the Miami A ... More >>

Miami Area Added 11th Most Private Sector Jobs in the Country in 2011

​Unemployment may be staggeringly high in Florida, but according to a new analysis by On Numbers, the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area added the 11th most private sector jobs of any metro area in 2011. That only added up to 21,600 new jobs, though. And, in terms of percentage growth, the area only ranked ... More >>