Things To Do In SW Florida

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is preparing to sign a proclamation that will require a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visa applications among other changes to the program for highly skilled foreign workers that has come under scrutiny by the administration, according to a White House official.

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The signing could come as early as Friday, the official said. The official was granted anonymity to speak in advance of the proclamation signing. The proposed proclamation was first reported by Bloomberg News. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s unemployment rate inched up to 3.8% in August, after holding steady at 3.7% since April, according to a report released Friday by the state Department of Commerce.

The August rate represented 424,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed, up 7,000 from July. The civilian labor force in August of 11.196 million was unchanged from a month earlier. The unemployment rate in August 2024 was 3.4%.

Jimmy Heckman, the Department of Commerce’s chief of workforce statistics and economic research, said last month’s rate increase was tied to people searching for work after entering or reentering the labor force.

“The number of people that say that they’re unemployed because they lost their jobs is actually down as a share of the number of unemployed people in the state,” Heckman said in a conference call with reporters.

He said numbers indicate businesses are hiring at a slower rate.

“We don’t think that the rise in unemployment is a story of people actually losing their jobs,” Heckman said. “A rise in the unemployment rate might mean that it’s taking a slightly longer time for people who are entering the labor force to find a job.” read more

By ADRIANA MORGA

NEW YORK (AP) — Gen Z has seen its credit scores drop more than any other generation over the past year, largely because of student loan debt, according to a new report out this week.

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The total national average credit score dropped two points this year to 715, according to the report from credit scoring company FICO. But Gen Z’s average score dropped three points to 676, the largest year-over-year decrease among any age group since 2020.

A credit score is a mathematical formula that helps lenders determine how likely you are to pay back a loan. Credit scores are based on your credit history and range from 300 to 850. read more

By MICHAEL PHILLIS, MELINA WALLING and JOSHUA A. BICKEL

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — In the soft dirt of an indoor horseback riding ring last month, a group of farmers got ready to test drive a new piece of equipment: an electric tractor.

As they took turns climbing in — some surprised by its quick acceleration — they gave real-time feedback to the Michigan State University researchers who have been developing it for over two years.

The farmers remarked on the motor’s quiet whir. Most were intrigued, or at least open to the idea. Some were concerned that the battery on the underside of the carriage would mean a lower clearance over the field, while others worried that it would simply be too expensive.

“What we hope to do when we retire is we want to get everything electric on the farm. The tractor is the last electric implement to get,” said Don Dunklee, one of the farmers to provide feedback. He runs a small organic vegetable farm that’s relied on wind and solar for decades.

The market is fairly new, but some researchers and entrepreneurs think electric tractors will be ideal for small farmers who care about sustainability and want to market their products that way. The small cherry-red, open-cab machine is well-suited for tasks like weeding fields of specialty crops like carrots or asparagus, or squeezing between the tight rows of orchard trees. Farmers with solar panels can avoid the cost of diesel. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street tacked on some more gains Friday as it glided to the finish of its latest record-setting week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to close out its sixth winning week in the last seven. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 172 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%.

All three hit all-time highs for a second straight day. They’ve been rallying on expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates in order to give the economy a boost after the central bank lowered them for the first time this year on Wednesday.

FedEx helped lift the market after delivering stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It rose 2.3%, thanks in part to strength for its domestic package business.

Newmont rallied 4.3% after the gold miner sold its investment in Canada’s Orla Mining for $439 million. It added to a stellar run, and Newmont’s stock has more than doubled so far this year as the price of gold has shot to records. read more