[ShepsMom]

"Weaknesses in housing market and manufacturing weigh on region's economy" by staff

read article here
Local job picture is gloomy

[deckardc]

"The highest unemployment rate was in Hendry County, southeast of Charlotte County near Lake Okeechobee, at 9.9 percent, while the lowest was in Walton County, in the Florida Panhandle, at 2.4 percent."

Apparently the level of gloominess depends on where you live in the state. The panhandle is not so gloomy. Unemployment is low on the panhandle and houses are reasonable compared to the most of the state.

Unfortunately, Florida has not done a very good job of attracting high wage businesses. It has relied on agriculture, construction, and tourism for it's industry. Agriculture is increasingly being outsourced, construction is almost dead, and tourism is steeply impacted by a lousy economy and hurricanes.

[where oh where]

I have a friend moving to Homosassa this Fall from Pennsylvania. Anyone know how things are there? She is retirement age but still wants to work in order to make extra monies. Anyone know about the employment opportunities in this area and is it a good place to live?

[Carbondated]

Originally Posted by ShepsMom

"Weaknesses in housing market and manufacturing weigh on region's economy" by staff

read article here
Local job picture is gloomy

In addition, I've heard (correct me if I'm wrong) another 30 people have been "laid off" from Sarasota County just today.

[deckardc]

Did your friend go to Homosassa before she decided to move there? It is a very rural place. The only thing of any interest is the Homosassa Springs State Park which is a good place to see manatees. Other than that, there is nothing there. There are no beaches in that part of Florida. Even though it is close to the Gulf, there are only mudflats and mangrove flats in the area. The nearest natural beach is probably Honeymoon Island which is about 1.5 hours away in Dunedin. As far as jobs go, I would imagine the only jobs around are maybe at a grocery store, drugstore, or at a hotel. There is also a Walmart. The restaurants are mostly fast food with one or two mom n' pop type seafood places. Houses are cheap but that is because there isn't much demand to live there. It's pretty remote. She would be looking at about 2 hours to either Tampa or Orlando.

[ShepsMom]

Originally Posted by Carbondated

In addition, I've heard (correct me if I'm wrong) another 30 people have been "laid off" from Sarasota County just today.

I didn't hear that, but would it be a surprise? Nothing suprises me anymore. Look at Countrywide, the biggest, the mightest in mortgage industry......

[where oh where]

Originally Posted by deckardc

Did your friend go to Homosassa before she decided to move there? It is a very rural place. The only thing of any interest is the Homosassa Springs State Park which is a good place to see manatees. Other than that, there is nothing there. There are no beaches in that part of Florida. Even though it is close to the Gulf, there are only mudflats and mangrove flats in the area. The nearest natural beach is probably Honeymoon Island which is about 1.5 hours away in Dunedin. As far as jobs go, I would imagine the only jobs around are maybe at a grocery store, drugstore, or at a hotel. There is also a Walmart. The restaurants are mostly fast food with one or two mom n' pop type seafood places. Houses are cheap but that is because there isn't much demand to live there. It's pretty remote. She would be looking at about 2 hours to either Tampa or Orlando.

Yes, she has been there several times as her longtime friends live there. So likes the weather. I did tell her that as what I understood from reading posts on this Florida board, it is a whole different ballgame in living there.
She likes to be around people so not sure how this would work. Of course, she does have the option to drive as you say to Tampa/Orlando etc. With her being age 65, all she would get for employment would be places like grocery stores, Walmarts etc. I hope it does work for her.
Thanks for the info.

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by ShepsMom

I didn't hear that, but would it be a surprise? Nothing suprises me anymore. Look at Countrywide, the biggest, the mightest in mortgage industry......

Thirty people? That's it? What's your source of info? & Yes, the biggest & best mortgages are shutting down as we speak. It kind of goes along with the way people were put into ARMs for the past three years...all very well knowing (by the loan makers) that they were putting homeowners in over their heads if their little program tug boats took on water; well, even the oceanliners are sinking now....

[Carbondated]

Update:
The county's employees were not "laid off" today....but they will be. I'll keep you posted.
When it happens, it will be like around 100 within the last couple of months.

Wonder if our services from the county are going to suffer?

[Racelady88]

Here is a link with today's info on the SRQ layoffs </title> <LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="../style.css" TYPE="text/css"></head> <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" VLINK="#0000A0" LINK="#0000FF" TEXT="#000000" ALINK="#FF0000" TOPMARGIN=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 MARGINWIDTH=0 LEFTMARGIN=0> <BASEFONT SIZE="3" FACE="Arial,He