5/18/12

Florida's unemployment rate dropped to 8.7% in April, the lowest since January 2009. The unemployment rate fell from 9.0% the previous month, although employment also fell by 2,700 jobs. More

5/15/12

Builder confidence for new single-family homes climbed five points in May, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Steady prices and stronger sales were cited as contributing to the jump in the index, which is now at its highest level since 2007. More

5/9/12

The national mortgage delinquency rate, which measures the rate of borrowers who are behind on their mortgages by sixty days or more, fell in the first quarter of 2012, dropping to 5.78%. This is the first decline since the second quarter of 2011. However, Florida's mortgage delinquency rate sits well above the national average at 13.87%. In fact, Florida's rate is the highest in the nation, followed by Nevada (11.16%) and New Jersey (8.31%). More

5/4/12

The unemployment rate in April fell to 8.1%, a small decline from 8.2% in March. While 115,000 jobs were added to payrolls across the country, the number of unemployed persons remained virtually unchanged. Industries that benefited from employment gains included professional and business services, retail trade, and health care. More

5/1/12

Venture Capital investment in Florida fell to $36 million during the first quarter of 2012 from the end of last year. Furthermore, only three investment deals were made compared to twelve in the previous quarter. This represents the lowest amount of first quarter Venture Capital investment for Florida in at least seventeen years. More

4/25/12

Floridians' consumer confidence dropped two points to 73 in April. All components of the index fell, including household intent to purchase and expectations of the economy over the next five years. However, this month's rating of 73 is still higher than the same time last year, when consumer confidence sat at 68. More

4/20/12

Florida's unemployment rate fell to 9.0% in March, down from 9.4% in February. This is the lowest it has been since January of 2009. Although 10,800 jobs were added to Florida payrolls last month, the labor force also shrunk by 15,000. More

4/19/12

The National Association of Realtors reports that home sales declined 2.6% in March; however, sales were up by 5.2% compared to March of last year. This is now the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases. However, the inventory of homes has remained virtually unchanged at 6.3-months' worth. Additionally, median existing-home prices increased by a modest 2.5%. More

4/12/12

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that initial unemployment claims increased during the week ending April 7th by 13,000, bringing the total to 380,000. This pushed the 4-week moving average up to 368,500 from 364,250 the previous week. More

4/10/12

The Small-Business Optimism Index fell nearly two points in March following six consecutive months of increases. Almost all of the index components- nine out of ten- dropped, with significant declines in hiring plans and expected real sales growth. More

4/6/12

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 8.2% in March, down from 8.4% the previous month. Employment rose by 120,000 jobs, with a significant portion of these gains coming from manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and health care. However, hiring in March was slower compared to the past three months, when an average 246,000 new jobs were created. experienced average job creation in March was much slower than over the last three months, which has averaged 246,000. More

4/4/12

CoreLogic's index of home prices showed a small increase of 0.7% from February to January. However, prices were down 0.8% from February of 2011. More

3/30/12

In February, Florida's unemployment rate edged down to 9.4%, the lowest level in three years. This was the eighth consecutive month that the unemployment rate has fallen, although roughly 869,000 Floridians remain unemployed.More

3/28/12

Mortgage refinance activity dropped for the sixth consecutive week, as the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Refinance Index fell by 4.6%. The MBA also announced that mortgage applications decreased, while interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages experienced a general increase. More

3/13/12

Following the release of the national unemployment rate, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today announced regional and state unemployment figures. Florida's unemployment rate fell to 9.6% in January from 9.9% in December, although total nonfarm employment decreased as well. More

3/9/12

Official employment figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics were released today. 227,000 jobs were added across the United States in February, slightly higher than some initial estimates. However, the unemployment was unchanged at 8.3%. More

3/7/12

ADP, a payroll services company, is reporting that 216,000 private sector jobs were created in the United State between January and February. This is up from 173,000 in the previous period. Most jobs were added to small and medium-sized payrolls. More

3/2/12

The percent of residential mortgages that are underwater rose in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 22.8%. Florida has the third-highest incidence of negative equity in the nation with 4.3 million properties underwater, or 44% of the total; an additional 4.1% are near negative equity. More

2/29/12

Real gross domestic product (GDP), an official measure of economic activity, rose at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. By comparison, GDP only increased by 1.8 percent during the third quarter of 2011. More

2/24/12

This past week, the U.S. hotel industry outperformed last year on three key measures: occupancy, average daily rates, and revenue per available room. Additionally, the Miami-Hialeah market experienced one of the strongest increases for revenue per available room across the country. More

2/22/12

On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors announced that existing-home sales were up in January, the third increase in the past four months. At the same time, total housing inventory fell slightly. More

2/16/12

Foreclosure activity increased slightly in January, although it has remained mostly flat over the last few months. More

2/15/12

Home builder confidence was up in February for single-family homes, the fifth consecutive month of increases. The National Association of Home Builders attributed the improvement to sustainable growth in the housing market. Read the full report.

2/8/12

The MBA reported that refinance activity was up this week as mortgage rates fell to record lows. Mortgage applications also increased by 7.5% from the previous week. More

2/03/12

The national unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in January from 8.5% in December. 243,000 jobs were added across the nation at the fastest pace in nine months. More

2/01/12

The Census Bureau announced that construction spending in the United States was up in December at a 1.5% annual rate. However, construction spending remained below 2010 levels last year. More