Lost your job or about to please read, page 1

I just began a job after seven months of unemployment (several without my unemp. pay) and I applaud you for trying to do something constructive about it. The sh-t will officially hit the fan in a few weeks when stores begin going out of business in lieu of testing children's products for lead contamination, we already are seeing that in Florida. Lots of stores here are facing massive downsizing or closure which will be disastrous since the state revolves almost entirely on the tourism, retail and service industry trades and they are all intertwined.

Putting together a visible network of state by state contacts is a good start. I'm moving this week and will put out feelers in the business communities in Lake and Orange County. Be forewarned anyone moving here, the job situation is rough but at least you won't freeze to death. That's happening in two places I interviewed at last year. Unemployment is not paying anyone right now either and the wait for food stamps is something like three months.

EmployFlorida.com has good leads for anyone looking, I got several interviews in late Oct.-Jan. using it so it is a working system. A sign company in Daytona Beach is hiring a graphic artist in the $12-$16 per hour range if anyone local is interested, I know a lot of artists are out of work in the county right now. Some office jobs, mostly in Orange County, but Palm Coast Data is having normal turnover and claims to be bringing in 700 positions this year from a firm that closed up north.

Beware anyone looking for a law enforcement job, FDLE laid off 1000 today primarily in the drug enforcement and training sectors. Municipal fire/police jobs are mostly on hiring freezes but I think departments in Orange County may be hiring. Lots and lots of healthcare jobs being advertised throughout Central Florida; avoid Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach and Port Orange which has a long history of forced unpaid leave for medical staff. Stay away from Flagler County, unemployment is over 11 percent and most industry is connected to construction which has tanked. You won't get hired by many companies here anyway unless you are an illegal. Jacksonville and St. Augustine seem stable, Jax is rough so be careful. Miami is going from hellhole to worse, stay away if possible. Fort Lauderdale also is tanking and Tampa seems ok.

There is a nuclear power plant under construction in Crystal River, Fl and they may be hiring already in many capacities. Apartments are dropping rental rates and you can find good apartments all over Ocala, Lake County, Gainesville and the area around the plant for the $450-$700 range, lots of homes in the same range. A mobile home landlord in Ocala has a listing where he is willing to rent acording to what you can afford to pay, he is on Craigslist under the Feb. 2 listing. Craigslist is proving surprisingly reliable for housing referrals, all of them I have checked out are legit. Some landlords also are dropping credit checks but they are stringent on criminal backgrounds because we have had a lot of problems with sex crimes in this state; most apartment complexes are near schools and they finally are clamping down. A few are waving that in the Eustis area and there are a handful of apartments there for under $500; one is going for $375 but it is in a rough area.

A coworker told me yesterday that Leesburg and some other cities sell garden plots for $50 so if anyone wants to go in on a coop soon let me know, we are discussing it. Our area is rural enough to have decent soil and irrigation.

Can't think of anything else at the moment but I will try to update as soon as possible. Once I get the housing situation straightened out and am not facing homelessness myself I will offer to help out if someone wants to come look for work here. I'm checking connections up north, I think the state of Ohio has approved funding and will be hiring in the youth pretrial intervention/human services sector if anyone is looking up there.