By: Kenric Ward
| Posted: February 7, 2011 3:55 AM
Declaring that other Southeastern states "are eating our lunch," a leading industry group lauded Gov. Rick Scott's plan to phase out Florida's corporate income tax.
With multimillionaire Republican Rick Scott heading into the governor’s office, Florida voters also are turning to a Legislature packed with millionaires to lead the state out of its long and deep economic trench.
Florida’s unemployment rate hit 11.5 percent in July, ending three straight months of decline even as annual job growth showed its first gain since 2007, state officials reported Friday.
Existing home sales in Florida rose 24 percent during the first quarter of 2010, a healthy jump from the same period a year earlier, Florida Realtors reported Tuesday.
A total of 38,846 existing homes sold statewide in the three months ending March 31 compared to 31,410 existing homes sold during the same period in 2009. Meanwhile, median home values continued to fall, but not as steeply. Prices were down 5 percent for the quarter compared to a year earlier.
