Connect with us

Business

Unemployment Rate Drops in Florida

Published

on

Florida govt. revealed that the unemployment rate in the state fell to its lowest level in October, which was in fact the lowest since 2008.

Unemployment rate fell to 8.5% in October, down from September’s 8.7 percent. The unemployment rate was 1.7% lower when compared to the horrendous 10.2% witnessed during October 2011.

Rebecca Rust, the state economist said that the construction sector had 3 months of job growth, but still it was lagging when compared to the growth in October 2011.

Rust said that they have been seeing that the monthly gains are irregular in construction.

Broward County– South Florida had a drop in unemployment rate from September’s upwardly improved 7.6 percent to 7.1 percent. Last year, it was 9 percent. Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate also fell from improved 9.3 percent in September to 8.6 percent. In 2011, Palm Beach’s jobless rate in October was 10.5%.

Mekael Teshome, an economist for PNC Financial Services Group said that the report was pretty good. The lower jobless rate in Florida shows a further job growth countrywide, while the boost in South Florida relates to the lift up in activity in the overall economy, Brazil in particular.

Teshome said that the U.S. economy is turning up from the soft patch it experienced in the beginning of the year.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said that by comparing with last year’s employment levels, Florida had a year-over-year improvement in 23 consecutive months.

The state mainly added jobs in business services and professional segments, beverage and food establishments and in OP clinics in October.

Rust said that the employment rate in construction has been raised in recent months by extra activity in the segment. In September, housing starts in Florida rose 23% over the year. Average home prices increased to 7.4% since 2011 September.

She revealed that the participation of Florida in the labor force was increased in October, meaning to say that more public gained jobs throughout the month.

She sad that the broader unwaged rate (including warned workers and those who work part-time and still need full-time jobs) fell to 16.4% in October when compared to last month’s 17% and 18.2% last year.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said that the state further added almost 12,100 new private-segment jobs.

DEO said that the state’s unemployment dropped by 2.6 percent thanks to addition of around 174,500 private-sector jobs since December 2010.

Continue Reading

Business

Top 3 Gainers: Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA), Eros International (NYSE:EROS), Borqs Technologies’ (BRQS)

Published

on

By

Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is up 2.5% after Benchmark reiterated its Buy rating in a look-ahead at Q2 earnings. The firm’s expecting a beat and solid guidance for Q3, and it’s raising its guidance for the fiscal year.

Tailwinds from the pandemic won’t dissipate easily, Benchmark suggests, and the videogame maker’s acquisition of Peak (and with it new “forever franchises” in Toon Blast and Toy Blast) will drive audience, bookings, margins and free cash flow, it says. The firm has an $11 price target, now implying 14% upside.

Eros International (NYSE:EROS) is up 5.8% today, making up the last week’s lost ground, after news that its streaming service Eros Now is partnering with Sony India (SNE +2.3%).

That will mean Eros Now’s app is pre-installed on selected Sony smart televisions in India, along with availability on a large base of existing models (Bravia E series and newer).

The country over the past year has seen a 25% growth in demand for smart TVs, fueled by overall industry growth of 15%, to a record 15M units/year.

Borqs Technologies’ (BRQS) personal safety tracker sees strong market with increased orders from the electronics retail chain in the US.

The boost in product demand comes ahead coronavirus pandemic that provides company to expect delivery of 250K units this year. It reflects over 3x the volume delivered in 2019, the year of its launch.

Borqs’ mobile personal safety devices designed particularly for senior citizens come with panic button, location tracking, and fall detection.

Continue Reading

Biotech

Biotech movers: Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Celgene Corporation (CELG)

Published

on

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) said on Thursday it received a request for documents as part of a U.S. investigation related to quality issues involving the manufacture of auto-injectors at its Meridian Medical Technologies site.

Pfizer, in a regulatory filing, said it would be producing records in response to the civil investigative demand from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.

Why ASDN Could Massively Outperform PFE in 2019

Meridian, a unit of Pfizer that manufactures EpiPen injectors used to deliver an emergency allergy antidote, has been hit by a series of manufacturing problems in recent years. Mylan NV, which markets EpiPens, has recalled tens of thousands of the devices after complaints that some had failed to activate.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has been meeting with shareholders in Boston and New York over the last two weeks to try to salvage its $74 billion purchase of cancer drugmaker Celgene Corporation (CELG), the biggest acquisition announced so far this year.

Why Investors Are Calling ASDN the CELG of the Sky!

The deal, announced in January, was hard sell to Bristol shareholders from the start. The acquisition adds about $32 billion in fresh debt to Bristol’s balance sheet while assuming $20 billion in Celgene’s debt, the companies said at the time. After factoring in debt, the acquisition was the largest health-care deal on record, according to data compiled by Refinitiv.

Now, hedge funds Wellington Management and Starboard Value say the deal doesn’t sit well with them. Bristol has sent executives to New York to meet with institutional investors several times over the last two weeks and met with investors in Boston on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a person who briefed on the meetings.

Bristol-Myers declined to comment.

Continue Reading

Biotech

Big Losers: Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (CRBP), Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (PBR)

Published

on

Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (CRBP)’s shares slumped as much as 16% to $6.94 on huge volume. The stock has been showing intense sell off suddenly after a bearish article on seekingalph.com by Alpha Exposure.

The article stated that Corbus has ties to investors convicted of or alleged to have committed securities fraud. We believe lenabasum has failed its major trials in SSc and CF. Lenabasum was also denied Breakthrough Therapy Designation in SSc. We believe lenabasum will fail in its pivotal SSc and Phase 2b CF trials. We are short Corbus with a price target of $0.50.

Wow the future of Autonomous flight is finally here with the launch of ASDN passenger drone Elroy

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (PBR) is expanding its ambitious divestment program and has “bold” plans for sales, the Brazilian state-run oil company’s chief executive said after the firm posted its first annual profit in five years.

On a conference call with analysts to discuss fourth-quarter results, CEO Roberto Castello Branco said selling non-core assets will be key to deleveraging.

Petrobras, as the company is known, can reduce its ratio of net debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, to 1.5 or even to 1, he added.

The University of Chicago-educated CEO, who took the reins in early January, has long been vocal about the need to slim down the sprawling firm and focus on core activities such as exploration and production. Thursday’s comments were some of his most assertive on the matter.

Why Investors Are Calling ASDN the TPC of the Sky!

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending