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Top Three Takeaways – July 6th, 2021
- Looking for some good news? You’ll find it in the economy. Friday’s job’s report was full of good news with the real unemployment rate dropping below ten percent for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. This while wages continue to rise as hundreds of thousands of jobs are being added back monthly. We remain in a mode where generally there are more jobs available than people who’re looking, providing plenty of opportunity for those who want to advance their careers as well. In Florida, where our unemployment rate already is well below the national average, there’s even more to be excited about going forward. We set an Independence Day weekend record for travel, exceeding 2019’s previous highs, with Florida being the top destination. And that happened without the cruise industry back up and running as usual. Just imagine a few weeks from now when it mostly is. As promising as the recovery looks nationally, the news remains far better still in Florida, and the most upside within our state is currently within South Florida as the CDC’s “no-sail” and conditional sail orders are voided in less than two weeks. We’d been hearing about the significant pent-up demand to travel this summer and we’re seeing it – with more Americans wanting to visit Florida than anywhere else.
- But it’s not all good news... And I’m not just talking about the continued heart wrenching stories out of Surfside. Speaking of which, the one silver lining is the continuation of a decline in the unaccounted-for total beyond the known death toll. There are going to be so many more difficult days ahead, however we can pray for the unaccounted-for number to continue to come down faster the death toll rises. Beyond Surfside, there’s another emerging issue. The virus. While Governor DeSantis said summer increases in new COVID-19 cases were expected, I’d hoped it wouldn’t happen. Well, it has. On June 4th Florida’s daily average for new COVID-19 cases had declined to just over 1,500. Through last week we’re back up to averaging over 2,000 new daily cases with Saturday bringing about the highest daily total of new cases, over 2,800, since May. Let’s hope these levels off quickly. Regardless, it’s a reminder that the virus is still around, and we should still be mindful – even if vaccinated. The CDC has now confirmed 4,686, so called-breakthrough cases, in which fully vaccinated people have been hospitalized or have died from contracting the virus after being vaccinated.
- But back to better news... Elsa’s spared South Florida and appears likely to make landfall in the lowest population area of the state. Also...there’s nothing else on the National Hurricane Center’s five-day outlook. That’s a nice way to start a short week all things considered.